Indo-European > Celtic > Insular Celtic > Brythonic Celtic > Northern English Sheep Counting
Northern English Sheep Counting is a sheep counting method used by shepherds in Northern England. It uses numerals from Brythonic Celtic, which were influenced by Old English. It is a base 20 system.
Here are the numbers one to twenty in Northern English Sheep Counting:
| Number | Romanisation | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | yan | /jæn/ |
| 2 | tyan | // |
| 3 | tethera | // |
| 4 | methera | // |
| 5 | pimp | /pɪmp/ |
| 6 | sethera | // |
| 7 | lethera | // |
| 8 | hovera | // |
| 9 | dovera | // |
| 10 | dick | /dɪk/ |
| 11 | yan-a-dick | /jænədɪk/ |
| 12 | tyan-a-dick | // |
| 13 | tethera-dick | // |
| 14 | methera-dick | // |
| 15 | bumfit | // |
| 16 | yan-a-bumfit | // |
| 17 | tyan-a-bumfit | // |
| 18 | tethera-bumfit | // |
| 19 | methera-bumfit | // |
| 20 | giggot | // |
There is a lot of dialectical variation, and this shows only one dialect.
Source: An ancient method of counting sheep in the Lake District on YouTube, and Wiktionary
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