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Dale counting sheep

A list of 40 words by sionnach.

About

Vigesimal counting systems, once used by shepherds in the North of England and southern Scotland, especially in the dales of the Lake District. The Yan Tan Tethera system was also used for counting stitches in knitting.

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  • sionnach These guys also cracked up at bumfit. It's at around the 5-minute mark on the video. Jun 30, 2008

  • trivet Ten-year old girls love special clubs and secret languages. It often starts with Pig Latin and then moves on to sign language or ubbi dubbi. Boys seem more interested in written codes and symbols (in my experience, at least). Apr 24, 2008

  • reesetee Could be, gangerh. A friend of mine who counsels deaf children believes that it's fairly common among (hearing) U.S. girls who are about Nicolina's age--something to do with having their own code of communication that adults can't understand. (Can't speak for boys that age, though.) Apr 24, 2008

  • gangerh Yes! You're right, r_t! I hadn't seen it - Nicolina and her friends were all learning and using BSL earlier this year! Is this a universal phenomenon? Apr 24, 2008

  • sionnach That makes me very happy, gangerh. I think the sheep counting words are my favorite discovery since joining Wordie. Apr 24, 2008

  • reesetee That's great, gangerh! Girls that age love mysterious counting systems and languages, don't they? (I know several who use ASL as their own "secret" means of communicating.) Apr 24, 2008

  • gangerh Having found time to understand this counting system I just shared it with Nicolina, my daughter, aged 10. She loves it, as do I, and she's just spent a whole 5 minutes learning up to jigget. She's now teaching me and insists that I print it off so she can share it with all her friends tomorrow. Ain't it great? Thanks for sharing, sionnach. Apr 24, 2008

  • gangerh Why? Is Daffyd a malcountent? Apr 23, 2008

  • bilby But wait! Daffyd demands a recount!. Apr 23, 2008

  • sionnach Based on this Wikipedia link, and others, I have changed the name of this list slightly, and added the 'Rathmell' counting numbers to the existing 'Swaledale' counts. Apr 22, 2008

  • sionnach more delightful nonsense!! Apr 22, 2008

  • sionnach music!! Apr 22, 2008

  • sionnach pictures!!

    Apr 22, 2008

  • bilby llarfs!
    Apr 22, 2008

  • sionnach yanajig, tanajig, tetherajig, metherajig, pastie, yanapest, tanapest, tetherapest, metherapest, crumpet, yanacrump, tanacrump ...

    It's forbidden by law to own more than 32 sheep. Apr 22, 2008

  • bilby Why only 20? Surely flocks of sheep were bigger than that? Or is 20 just the number of words that have survived?

    I seek higher realms, even beyond jigget. Apr 22, 2008

  • bilby Australia. But with my new-found prowess I should have been in New Zealand:
    "In the Te Kuiti’s take on “running of the bulls�? the main event of the day is at 2pm “The Running of the sheep�?. Where thousands of wooly sheep scurry and make their way through the excited crowd down the main street of Te kuiti in the most wildest idea that has turned into the most recognizable event icon. Then test your sheep counting skills in The Count the Sheep Competition�? by guessing the exact number of sheep running to win a huge cash prize." Err, all the thrilling details here . Mar 30, 2008

  • gangerh bilby's in the Land of Nod, sionnach. Mar 29, 2008

  • sionnach bilby: Are you still in Australia? Or are you in Europe again? Mar 29, 2008

  • bilby I'm trying so hard to learn all these words but I keep falling asleep ... Mar 29, 2008

  • bilby This is officially my favouritest list. In this life and all previous ones. Mar 28, 2008

  • sionnach How many ways do I love Wordie? Let me count them:

    yan, tan, tether .....

    I trust that addresses bilby's question.

    By the way, this counting scheme was found in the delightful book biting the wax tadpole : confessions of a language fanatic (elizabeth little). Mar 28, 2008

  • reesetee Yes, and I suppose I must learn them too if I'm to be the Prothonotary of Fattiehead.

    Wait...where is Fattiehead again? Oh, Scotland. Never mind. *stops counting in Welsh* Mar 28, 2008

  • bilby Do we count from the top of the list down or from the bottom up? I just want to be damn ready cometh the next ovine reckoning at Penrhyndeudraeth. Mar 28, 2008

  • chained_bear Oh, no. I have a ton of them. I even have lists of them. This very comment is filled with them. Mar 28, 2008

  • sionnach Well, good for them, say I! Maybe they can write a song about the experience* so that sister Bronwen can teach it to the miners' chorus to sing at the Eistedfodd.

    But, have you learned *nothing* from your experience here on Wordie, c_b? Surely, by now, the realization must have dawned that there is no such beast as a 'perfectly ordinary' word, in English, or any other language?

    *: turn it into Eistedfodder, so to speak. Mar 28, 2008

  • chained_bear What if Welsh shepherds sit around reading perfectly ordinary English words and laughing about us? *looks around suspiciously* Mar 28, 2008

  • yarb How they ever got past bumfit I can't imagine. Mar 27, 2008

  • sionnach I may have to adopt this system myself. If only so that I can guffaw like a buffoon when I reach tetheradick.

    Chortle! Chortle! Chortle! Mar 27, 2008