Yan Tan Tethera or yan-tan-tethera is a sheep-counting system traditionally used by shepherds in Northern England and some other parts of Britain.[1] The words are numbers taken from Brythonic Celtic languages such as Cumbric which had died out in most of Northern England by the sixth century, but they were commonly used for sheep counting and counting stitches in knitting until the Industrial Revolution, especially in the fells of the Lake District. Though most of these number systems fell out of use by the turn of the 20th century, some are still in use.
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(Cuplikan) Video Tahunan Kolese Gonzaga Angkatan 20 Tahun 2009 "Yan Tan Tethera"
Transcription
ROGER BOWLEY: I want to talk about the number 15 in English, but it's not English that you know. This is going to be Celtic English, before the Romans came here. So it's not going to be English that comes from German, like ein, zwei, drei, 1, 2, 3. This is the form of English used by shepherds to count their flocks. And I've spent quite a lot of time, Brady, learning how to say yan, tan, tethera, pethera, pimp for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. TICH RIVETT: Well, there's yan, tan, tethera, pethera, pimp. ROGER BOWLEY: Pimp is five. I find that quite nicely amusing. And then, it's cethera, lethera, hoverer, coverer, dik. And then you get onto the next numbers, which are yanadik, because it's 1 and 10. Yanadik, tanadik, tetheradik, petheradik, and then it's bumfit. So 15 is bumfit. And if you want to take anything away from this, it is a pimp plus a dik is a bumfit. And then you get yanabumfit, tanabumfit, tetherabumfit, petherabumfit, figgit. TICH RIVETT: Tetheradik, bumfit. Cetherabumfit, letherabumfit, figgit. And hang on, I'm starting to get a notch in me stick. ROGER BOWLEY: Now, this changes depending on which part of the country. This is the Lincolnshire version. If you go down south, it's more refined. So it's yain, tain, tethera, pethera. So this is 5 sheep plus 10 sheep equals 15. All right, there's a little woolly thing with a head out here and a little toe. And he's coming along. All right, this is a pimp plus a dik. Oh, I can't even say it right. Dik is equal to a bumfit. In some part of the country, that has two T's, but that's not really relevant at all. So you have up to 20. So a pimp plus the dik plus another pimp is a figgit. They get to figgit, they get to 20 sheep, and they couldn't cope with that. I mean, that's hard enough to do, and it'll keep you awake. So if you're actually counting sheep this way, you'll keep awake rather than nodding off. And then they put a stone in their pocket. So at 20, they stop at 20, and they start counting again with a stone in their pocket or a marble. Or they might draw a line on the ground. And then they would go, the same thing again for the next 20. So this is a base 20 system, which is not very good because you have to rely on something else in order to count up to maybe 80 or 100. Because they want to take their sheep over somewhere else and flock them off on other numbers. And they want as many as possible. People keep it going, but there was a tradition until about 1900 where the farmers and the shepherds were still using this, so it became part of the culture written down. And so there's a record of this. Not a television record, but a record of it, so that people know about this system. And it's different in different parts of the country, including Scotland, including Wales. BRADY HARAN: What was it about these numbers that appealed to you? Are you a bit juvenile, or what is it? ROGER BOWLEY: Yeah, yeah. I find as I get older, I immature with age.
Origin and development
Sheep-counting systems ultimately derive from Brythonic Celtic languages, such as Cumbric; Tim Gay writes: “[Sheep-counting systems from all over the British Isles] all compared very closely to 18th-century Cornish and modern Welsh".[2] It is impossible, given the corrupted form in which they have survived, to be sure of their exact origin. The counting systems have changed considerably over time. A particularly common tendency is for certain pairs of adjacent numbers to come to resemble each other by rhyme (notably the words for 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 6 and 7, or 8 and 9). Still, multiples of five tend to be fairly conservative; compare bumfit with Welsh pymtheg, in contrast with standard English fifteen.
Use in sheep counting
Like most Celtic numbering systems, they tend to be vigesimal (based on the number twenty), but they usually lack words to describe quantities larger than twenty; this is not a limitation of either modernised decimal Celtic counting systems or the older ones. To count a large number of sheep, a shepherd would repeatedly count to twenty, placing a mark on the ground, or move a hand to another mark on a shepherd's crook, or drop a pebble into a pocket to represent each score (e.g. 5 score sheep = 100 sheep).
Importance of keeping count
In order to keep accurate records (e.g. of birth and death) and to be alert to instances of straying, shepherds must perform frequent head-counts of their flocks. Dating back at least to the medieval period, and continuing to the present in some areas like Slaidburn, farms were granted fell rights, allowing them access to common grazing land. To prevent overgrazing, it was vitally important for each farm to keep accurate, updated head-counts. Though fell rights are largely obsolete in modern agriculture except in upland areas, farms are often subsidised and taxed according to the quantity of their sheep. For this reason, accurate counts are still necessary, and must be performed frequently.
Generally, a count is the first action performed in the morning and the last action performed at night. A count is made after moving the sheep from one pasture to another, and after any operation involving the sheep, such as shearing, tagging, foot-trimming, mulesing, etc., although sheep are far less likely to stray while being moved in a group rather than when grazing at large on open ground.
Knitting
Their use is also attested in a "knitting song" known to be sung around the middle of the nineteenth century in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, beginning "yahn, tayhn, tether, mether, mimph".[3]
Modern usage
The counting system has been used for products sold within Northern England, such as prints,[4] beers,[5] alcoholic sparkling water (hard seltzer in U.S.),[6] and yarns,[7] as well as in artistic works referencing the region, such as Harrison Birtwistle's 1986 opera Yan Tan Tethera.
Jake Thackray's song "Old Molly Metcalfe"[8] from his 1972 album Bantam Cock uses the Swaledale "Yan Tan Tether Mether Pip" as a repeating lyrical theme.
Yan or yen
The word yan or yen for 'one' in Cumbrian, Northumbrian, and some Yorkshire dialects generally represents a regular development in Northern English in which the Old English long vowel /ɑː/ <ā> was broken into /ie/, /ia/ and so on. This explains the shift to yan and ane from the Old English ān, which is itself derived from the Proto-Germanic *ainaz.[9][10] Another example of this development is the Northern English word for 'home', hame, which has forms such as hyem, yem and yam all deriving from the Old English hām.[11]
Systems by region
Yorkshire and Lancashire
Number | Bowland | Rathmell | Nidderdale | Swaledale | Wharfedale | Teesdale | Wensleydale |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Yain | Aen | Yain | Yan | Yan | Yan | Yain |
2 | Tain | Taen | Tain | Tan | Tan | Tean | Tain |
3 | Eddera | Tethera | Eddero | Tether | Tether | Tether | Eddero |
4 | Peddera | Fethera | Peddero | Mether | Mether | Peddero | |
5 | Pit | Phubs | Pitts | Pip | Pip | Pitts | |
6 | Tayter | Aayther | Tayter | Azer | Lezar | Tayter | |
7 | Layter | Layather | Layter | Sezar | Azar | Later | |
8 | Overa | Quoather | Overo | Akker | Catrah | Overro | |
9 | Covera | Quaather | Covero | Conter | Borna | Coverro | |
10 | Dix | Dugs | Dix | Dick | Dick | Disc | |
11 | Yain-a-dix | Aena dugs | Yaindix | Yanadick | Yan-a-dick | Yain disc | |
12 | Tain-a-dix | Taena dugs | Taindix | Tanadick | Tean-a-dick | Tain disc | |
13 | Eddera-a-dix | Tethera dugs | Edderodix | Tetheradick | Tether-dick | Ederro disc | |
14 | Peddera-a-dix | Fethera dugs | Pedderodix | Metheradick | Mether-dick | Peddero disc | |
15 | Bumfit | Buon | Bumfit | Bumfit | Bumfit | Bumfitt | |
16 | Yain-a-bumfit | Aena buon | Yain-o-Bumfit | Yanabum | Yan-a-bum | Bumfitt yain | |
17 | Tain-a-bumfit | Taena buon | Tain-o-Bumfit | Tanabum | Tean-a-bum | Bumfitt tain | |
18 | Eddera-bumfit | Tethera buon | Eddero-Bumfit | Tetherabum | Tethera-bum | Bumfitt ederro | |
19 | Peddera-a-bumfit | Fethera buon | Peddero-Bumfit | Metherabum | Methera-bum | Bumfitt peddero | |
20 | Jiggit | Gun a gun | Jiggit | Jigget | Jiggit | Jiggit |
Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and County Durham
Number | Derbyshire | Weardale | Tong | Kirkby Lonsdale | Derbyshire Dales | Lincolnshire |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Yain | Yan | Yan | Yaan | Yan | Yan |
2 | Tain | Teyan | Tan | Tyaan | Tan | Tan |
3 | Eddero | Tethera | Tether | Taed'ere | Tethera | Tethera |
4 | Pederro | Methera | Mether | Mead'ere | Methera | Pethera |
5 | Pitts | Tic | Pick | Mimp | Pip | Pimp |
6 | Tayter | Yan-a-tic | Sesan | Haites | Sethera | Sethera |
7 | Later | Teyan-a-tic | Asel | Saites | Lethera | Lethera |
8 | Overro | Tethera-tic | Catel | Haoves | Hovera | Hovera |
9 | Coverro | Methera-tic | Oiner | Daoves | Dovera | Covera |
10 | Dix | Bub | Dick | Dik | Dick | Dik |
11 | Yain-dix | Yan-a-bub | Yanadick | Yaan'edik | Yan-a-dik | |
12 | Tain-dix | Teyan-a-bub | Tanadick | Tyaan'edik | Tan-a-dik | |
13 | Eddero-dix | Tethera-bub | Tetheradick | Tead'eredik | Tethera-dik | |
14 | Peddero-dix | Methera-bub | Metheradick | Mead'eredik | Pethera-dik | |
15 | Bumfitt | Tic-a-bub | Bumfit | Boon, buom, buum | Bumfit | |
16 | Yain-o-bumfitt | Yan-tic-a-bub | Yanabum | Yaan'eboon | Yan-a-bumfit | |
17 | Tain-o-bumfitt | Teyan-tic-a-bub | Tanabum | Tyaan'eboon | Tan-a-bumfit | |
18 | Eddero-o-bumfitt | Tethera-tic-a-bub | Tetherabum | Tead'ereboon | Tethera-bumfit | |
19 | Peddero-o-bumfitt | Methera-tic-a-bub | Metherabum | Mead'ereboon | Pethera-bumfit | |
20 | Jiggit | Gigget | Jigget | Buom'fit, buum'fit | Figgot |
Southwest England
Number | South West England (Variations) | West Country Dorset |
---|---|---|
1 | Yahn | Hant |
2 | Tayn | Tant |
3 | Tether | Tothery |
4 | Mether | Forthery |
5 | Mumph | Fant |
6 | Hither | Sahny |
7 | Lither | Dahny |
8 | Auver | Downy |
9 | Dauver | Dominy |
10 | Dic | Dik |
11 | Yahndic | Haindik |
12 | Tayndic | Taindik |
13 | Tetherdic | Totherydik |
14 | Metherdic | Fotherydik |
15 | Mumphit | Jiggen |
16 | Yahna Mumphit | Hain Jiggen |
17 | Tayna Mumphit | Tain Jiggen |
18 | Tethera Mumphit | Tother Jiggen |
19 | Methera Mumphit | Fother Jiggen |
20 | Jigif | Full Score |
Cumberland, and Westmorland
Number | Coniston | Borrowdale | Eskdale | Westmorland |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Yan | Yan | Yaena | Yan |
2 | Taen | Tyan | Taena | Tahn |
3 | Tedderte | Tethera | Teddera | Teddera |
4 | Medderte | Methera | Meddera | Meddera |
5 | Pimp | Pimp | Pimp | Pimp |
6 | Haata | Sethera | Seckera | Settera |
7 | Slaata | Lethera | Leckera | Lettera |
8 | Lowra | Hovera | Hofa | Hovera |
9 | Dowra | Dovera | Lofa | Dovera |
10 | Dick | Dick | Dec | Dick |
11 | Yan-a-Dick | Yan-a-Dick | Yan Dick | |
12 | Taen-a-Dick | Tyan-a-Dick | Tahn Dick | |
13 | Tedder-a-Dick | Tethera-Dick | Teddera Dick | |
14 | Medder-a-Dick | Methera-Dick | Meddera Dick | |
15 | Mimph | Bumfit | Bumfit | |
16 | Yan-a-Mimph | Yan-a-bumfit | Yan-a-Bumfit | |
17 | Taen-a-Mimph | Tyan-a-bumfit | Tahn-a Bumfit | |
18 | Tedder-a-Mimph | Tethera Bumfit | Teddera-Bumfit | |
19 | Medder-a-Mimph | Methera Bumfit | Meddera-Bumfit | |
20 | Gigget | Giggot | Jiggot |
Wilts, Scots, Lakes, Dales and Welsh
Note: Scots here means "Scots" not "Gaelic"
Number | Wilts | Scots | Lakes | Dales | Welsh |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ain | Yan | Auna | Yain | Un |
2 | Tain | Tyan | Peina | Tain | Dau |
3 | Tethera | Tethera | Para | Edderoa | Tri |
4 | Methera | Methera | Peddera | Peddero | Pedwar |
5 | Mimp | Pimp | Pimp | Pitts | Pump |
6 | Ayta | Sethera | Ithy | Tayter | Chwech |
7 | Slayta | Lethera | Mithy | Leter | Saith |
8 | Laura | Hovera | Owera | Overro | Wyth |
9 | Dora | Dovera | Lowera | Coverro | Naw |
10 | Dik | Dik | Dig | Dix | Deg |
11 | Ain-a-dik | Yanadik | Ain-a-dig | Yain-dix | Un ar ddeg |
12 | Tain-a-dik | Tyanadik | Pein-a-dig | Tain-dix | Deuddeg |
13 | Tethera-a-dik | Tetheradik | Para-a-dig | Eddero-dix | Tri ar ddeg |
14 | Methera-a-dik | Metheradik | Peddaer-a-dig | Pedderp-dix | Pedwar ar ddeg |
15 | Mit | Bumfitt | Bunfit | Bumfitt | Pymtheg |
16 | Ain-a-mit | Yanabumfit | Aina-a-bumfit | Yain-o-bumfitt | Un ar bymtheg |
17 | Tain-a-mit | Tyanabumfitt | Pein-a-bumfit | Tain-o-bumfitt | Dau ar bymtheg |
18 | Tethera-mit | Tetherabumfitt | Par-a-bunfit | Eddero-bumfitt | Deunaw |
19 | Gethera-mit | Metherabumfitt | Pedder-a-bumfit | Peddero-bumfitt | Pedwar ar bymtheg |
20 | Ghet | Giggot | Giggy | Jiggit | Ugain |
Numerals in Brythonic Celtic languages
Number | Ancient British | Old Welsh | Welsh | Cornish (Kemmyn) | Breton |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | *oinos (m + n), *oinā (f) | un | un | unn; onan | unan |
2 | *dwāu (m), *dwī (f) | dou, (?) | dau, dwy | dew, diw | daou, div |
3 | *trīs (m), *tisres (f) | tri, (?) | tri, tair | tri, teyr | tri, teir |
4 | *petwares (m), *petesres (f) | petuar, (?) | pedwar, pedair | peswar, peder | pevar, peder |
5 | *pempe | pimp | pump | pymp | pemp |
6 | *swexs | chwech | chwech | hwegh | c'hwec'h |
7 | *sextan | seith | saith | seyth | seizh |
8 | *oxtū | wyth | wyth | eth | eizh |
9 | *nawan | nau | naw | naw | nav |
10 | *dekan | dec | deg | deg | dek |
11 | *oinodekan | un ar ddeg | unnek | unnek | |
12 | *dwāudekan | deuddeg | dewdhek | daouzek | |
13 | *trīdekan | tri ar ddeg, tair ar ddeg | trydhek | trizek | |
14 | *petwardekan | pedwar ar ddeg, pedair ar ddeg | peswardhek | pevarzek | |
15 | *pempedekan | pymtheg | pymthek | pemzek | |
16 | *swexsdekan | un ar bymtheg | hwetek | c'hwezek | |
17 | *sextandekan | dau ar bymtheg, dwy ar bymtheg | seytek | seitek | |
18 | *oxtūdekan | deunaw | etek | triwec'h | |
19 | *nawadekam | pedwar ar bymtheg, pedair ar bymtheg | nownsek | naontek | |
20 | *wikantī | ugain | ugens | ugent |
See also
References
- ^ Distin, Kate (2010). Cultural Evolution. Cambridge University Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-521-18971-2.
- ^ Gay, Tim (July 1999). "Rural dialects and surviving Britons". British Archaeology (46): 18.
- ^ R. S. T. (1863). "Knitting Song". Notes and Queries. 3rd Series. 4: 205.
- ^ St Jude's Prints. "Yan tan Tethera". St. Jude's Prints. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
- ^ "New Beer - Yan Tan Tethera". Great Newsome Brewery. 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
- ^ Yan Tan Hard Seltzer. "Yan Tan". Yantan.uk. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
- ^ "Yan tan tethera". Etsy. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
- ^ "Old Molly Metcalfe Song". Etsy. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ Leith, Dick (1997). A Social History of English. Routledge. p. 45. ISBN 0-415-09797-5. (Alternate ISBN 978-0-415-09797-0)
- ^ Griffiths, Bill (2004). A Dictionary of North East Dialect. Northumbria University Press. p. 191. ISBN 1-904794-16-5.
- ^ Griffiths, Bill (2004). A Dictionary of North East Dialect. Northumbria University Press. p. 79. ISBN 1-904794-16-5.
Further reading
- Rawnsley, Hardwicke Drummmond (1987) "Yan tyan tethera: counting sheep". Woolley: Fleece Press ISBN 0948375175
External links
- Breton numerals
- Carol Justus's use of this numbering system to explain pre-decimal counting systems
- The Sheep Counting Score – By Walter Skeat, 1910
- Modern Welsh decimal system and older vigesimal system in full