Traditionally, pitmatic, together with some rural Northumbrian communities including Rothbury, used a guttural 'rrrr' sound, rolling their 'r's. This is now less frequently heard; since the closure of the area's deep mines, many younger people speak in local ways that do not usually include this characteristic. The guttural r sound can, however, still sometimes be detected, especially amongst elderly populations in more rural areas. Indeed it can!
While in theory pitmatic was spoken throughout the Great Northern Coalfield, from Ashington in Northumberland to Fishburn in County Durham, early references apply specifically to its use by miners especially from the Durham district (1873) and to its use in County Durham (1930).
Nowadays "pitmatic" is an uncommon term in popular usage. In recent times, all three dialects have converged, acquiring features from more Standard English varieties. English as spoken in County Durham has been described as "half-Geordie, half-Teesside" (see the article about Mackem).
Melvyn Bragg presented a programme on BBC Radio 4 about pitmatic as part of a series on regional dialects".
hap - to heap up, to cover: "Hap weel up, it's a caad neet oot." Get well covered up. It's a cold night!"
I'm sure I'll return to Pitmatic words, just to spread your vocabulary, like...
It's dying out. As language tends to.
Something to record and treasure, methinks...
"Gan canny noo, ***hinny!" -- 'Take care of yourselves, go carefully...'
***'Hinny' is a Scots and Northumbrian, also Geordie, term of affection and perhaps derives from 'honey', or 'hen'...
3 comments:
l have difficulty understanding the dialect around Carlisle at times, event he kids come home often with a stronger twang... eh?
Melvyn comes from a small town very near Carlisle called Wigton and the accent and phrases and different words from there sounds like a different language altogether!!
love this post, glad you wrote it !! even though l dont understand it all!!
luv saz x
I'm from a mining village in Ayrshire (Scotland), and I know almost all of those words. All of the men in my family were miners right until our pit closed.
Fascinating! I love studies in dialects of English, with history of how they came to be, and examples of interesting words. Thanks for introducing me to one I'd never heard about before!
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