View source for Mackem

{{Short description|Nickname for residents of and people from Sunderland, North East England}}
{{distinguish|Makkum (disambiguation){{!}}Makkum}} {{For| the American anatomic pathologist and physician-scientist born in 1954|Susan Mackem}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Mackem
| altname          = Wearside English, Sunderland English
| nativename       = 
| acceptance       = 
| states           = [[England]]
| region           = [[Wearside]]
| ethnicity        = English
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
|fam3=[[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
|fam4=[[North Sea Germanic languages|North Sea Germanic]]
|fam5=[[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
|fam6=[[English language|English]]
|fam7=[[Northern England English|Northern English]]
|fam8=[[Northumbrian dialect]]
|ancestor=[[Old English]]
|ancestor2=[[Middle English]] 
| image            = 
| imagecaption     = 
| map              = 
| mapcaption       =  
}}
'''Mackem''', '''Makem''' or '''Mak'em''' is a [[nickname]] for residents of and people from [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]], a city in [[North East England]]. It is also a name for the local dialect and accent (not to be confused with [[Geordie]]); and for a fan, of whatever origin, of [[Sunderland A.F.C.]] It has been used by some people from Sunderland to describe themselves since the 1980s, prior to which it was mainly used in [[Tyneside]] as a disparaging [[exonym]].<ref name="Mackem">{{cite web |url=http://wp.sunderland.ac.uk/seagullcity/mackem/|title=Mackem|access-date=20 September 2017 |publisher=Seagull City|year=2017}}</ref> An alternative name for a Mackem (except in the sense of a football supporter) is a [[Wearside]]r.

According to the [[British Library]], "Locals insist there are significant differences between Geordie [spoken in Newcastle upon Tyne] and several other local dialects, such as [[Pitmatic]] and Mackem. Pitmatic is the dialect of the former mining areas in County Durham and around Ashington to the north of Newcastle upon Tyne, while Mackem is used locally to refer to the dialect of the city of Sunderland and the surrounding urban area of Wearside."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/geordie-a-regional-dialect-of-english |title=Geordie: A regional dialect of English |access-date=1 March 2021 |archive-date=5 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505185130/https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/geordie-a-regional-dialect-of-english |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Etymology==
There is much debate about the origin of the word Mackem, although it has been argued that it may stem from the phrase "Mak ‘em and Tak’em" - with Mak’em being the local pronunciation of "make them" and Tak’em from "take them".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wp.sunderland.ac.uk/seagullcity/mackem/|title=Mackem|access-date=20 September 2017 |publisher=Seagull City|year=2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/SunderlandMackems.html|title=Sunderland Mackem Origin|access-date=20 September 2017 |publisher=englandsnortheast.co.uk|year=2016}}</ref>

According to the current entry in the [[Oxford English Dictionary]], the earliest occurrence of the word Mackem or Mak’em in print was in 1988.<ref name="OED 2005">{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com/bbcwordhunt/|pages="OED News" section|title=BBC Wordhunt: Your Language Needs You! |publisher=Oxford University Press|date=10 June 2005|work=OED.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060118084437/http://www.oed.com/bbcwordhunt/ |archive-date=18 January 2006 |access-date=31 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, as evidenced by the attached news articles, the word Mak’em (or Mackem) has been much in evidence for a great many years prior to 1988. Indeed, one of the articles attached dates to 1929.[[File:Mackem1929_(1).jpg|thumb|An article from 1929 in ''Sunderland Echo'' discussing Makem.]][[File:Makem1953.jpg|thumb|An article from 1953 in ''Sunderland Echo'' discussing Makem.]]

It has been argued that the expressions date back to the height of Sunderland's shipbuilding history, as the shipwrights would ''make'' the ships, then the [[maritime pilot]]s and [[tugboat]] captains would ''take'' them down the River Wear to the sea – the shipyards and port authority being the most conspicuous employers in Sunderland. A variant explanation is that the builders at Sunderland would build the ships, which would then go to Tyneside to be outfitted, hence from the standpoint of someone from Sunderland, "we make 'em an' they take 'em" – however, this account is disputed (and, indeed, as an earlier form of the name was Mac n' Tac, it seems unlikely).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/SunderlandMackems.html|title=Sunderland Mackem Origin|access-date=20 September 2017 |publisher=englandsnortheast.co.uk|year=2016}}</ref> Another explanation is that ships were both built and repaired (i.e. "taken in for repairs") on the Wear.<ref name="Mackem"/>

Evidence suggests the term is a recent coinage. According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'',<ref name="Voices">{{cite web|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/wear/content/articles/2005/06/21/wordhunt_feature.shtml|pages="Wear &gt; Voices 2005" section|title=The Mackem Wordhunt!|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|date=21 June 2005|work=BBC.co.uk|access-date=31 July 2011
}}</ref> the earliest occurrence of it in print was in 1988.<ref name="OED 2006">{{cite web|title=New Entry for ''OED Online'': Mackem, n. (Draft Entry Jan. 2006) |work=OED.com|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages="OED News: BBC Balderdash and Piffle (Series One)" section |date=11 January 2006 |url=http://www.oed.com/bbcwords/mackem.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419190125/http://www.oed.com/bbcwords/mackem.html|archive-date=19 April 2009|access-date=31 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The phrase "we still tak'em and mak'em" was found in a sporting context in 1973 in reference to Sunderland Cricket & Rugby Football Club.<ref name="OED 2006" /> While this lends support to the theory that this phrase was the origin of the term "Mak'em", there is nothing to suggest that "mak'em" had come to be applied to people from Sunderland generally at such a date. The name "Mak'em" may refer to the Wearside shipyard workers, who during [[World War II]] were brought into shipbuilding and regarded as taking work away from the [[Geordie]]s on [[Tyneside]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mackems|work=Virtual Sunderland|url=http://www.virtualsunderland.co.uk/misc/mackems.htm|access-date=21 September 2007|archive-date=16 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216104346/http://www.virtualsunderland.co.uk/misc/mackems.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Characteristics==
There has been very little academic work done on the Sunderland dialect.  It was a site in the early research by [[Alexander John Ellis]], who also recorded a local song called ''Spottee''.<ref name=Ellis/> Ellis regarded Sunderland as speaking a variant of the North Durham dialect, which it shared with much of the [[Durham Coalfield]]. He considered Sunderland to be situated near a dialectal boundary. The nearby village of [[Ryhope]] and a narrow coastal strip running south, which at the time had not yet been incorporated into the coalfield, were placed within the South Durham dialectal region. This region also included the dialects of [[Weardale]] and [[Teesdale]].<ref name="Ellis">page 39 of ''On Early English Pronunciation, Part V. The existing phonology of English dialects compared with that of West Saxon speech'', A.J. Ellis, Truebner & Co, London, 1889 [https://archive.today/20130802041836/http://www.openlibrary.org/details/onearlyenglishpr00elliuoft]</ref> Ellis also noted the influence on Sunderland speech from migrants to the area from Ireland and Scotland.<ref>page 640 of ''On Early English Pronunciation, Part V. The existing phonology of English dialects compared with that of West Saxon speech'', A.J. Ellis, Truebner & Co, London, 1889 [https://archive.today/20130802041836/http://www.openlibrary.org/details/onearlyenglishpr00elliuoft]</ref> 

{{Quote|
Come all ye good people and listen to me,<br>
And a comical tale I will tell unto ye,<br>
Belanging yon Spottee that lived on the Law Quay,<br>
That had nowther house nor harbour he.<br>
The poor auld wives o’ the north side disn’t knaw what for te de,<br>
For they dare not come to see their husbands when they come to the Quay;<br>
They’re feared o’ their sel’s, and their infants, tee,<br>
For this roguish fellow they call Spottee.<br>
But now he’s gane away unto the sea-side,<br>
Where mony a ane wishes he may be weshed away wi’ the tide,<br>
For if Floutter’s flood come, as it us’d for te de,<br>
It will drive his heart out then where will his midred be?|An excerpt of the song Spottee from [[The Bishoprick Garland]]. The song includes features considered archaic in the modern dialect.}}

In the [[Survey of English Dialects]], the nearby town of [[Washington, Tyne and Wear|Washington]] was surveyed.  The researcher of the site, [[Stanley Ellis (linguist)|Stanley Ellis]], later worked with police on analysing the speech in a tape sent to the police during the [[Yorkshire Ripper]] investigation, which became known as the [[Wearside Jack]] tape because the police switched their investigation to Wearside after Ellis's analysis of the tape.<ref name=Guardian>Jack Windsor Lewis, [https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/nov/13/stanley-ellis-obituary Obituary: Stanley Ellis], ''The Guardian'', 13 November 2009</ref>

To people outside the region, the differences between Mackem and Geordie dialects often seem marginal, but there are many notable differences.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sounds.bl.uk/Accents-and-dialects|title=Accents & dialects|website=British Library|access-date=31 May 2015|archive-date=14 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914063757/http://sounds.bl.uk/Accents-and-dialects|url-status=dead}}</ref> A perceptual dialect study by the [[University of Sunderland]] found that locals of the region consider Geordie and Mackem to be separate dialects and identify numerous lexical, grammatical, and phonetic differences between the two.{{sfnp|Pearce|2012}} In fact, Mackem is considered to be more closely related to Durham dialects than to those of Tyneside.<ref name="Beal"/> There are even a small but noticeable differences in pronunciation and grammar between the dialects of North and South Sunderland (for example, the word ''something'' in North Sunderland is often ''summik'' whereas a South Sunderland speaker may often prefer ''summat'' and people from the surrounding areas prefer ''summit'').{{CN|date=October 2021}}

==Phonology==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2016}}
{{IPA notice|section}}
* ''Make'' and ''take'' are pronounced ''mak'' and ''tak'' ({{IPA|[ˈmak]}} and {{IPA|[ˈtak]}}) in the most conservative forms of the dialect. This variation is the supposed reason why Tyneside shipyard workers might have coined "Mak'em" as an insult.<ref name=OEDMackem>{{cite web|title=Mackem Accent |publisher=Oxford English Dictionary |work=OED Online |url=http://www.oed.com/bbcwords/mackem.html |access-date=21 September 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024042256/http://www.oed.com/bbcwords/mackem.html |archive-date=24 October 2007 }}</ref> However, the pronunciation of the word is not confined to Sunderland and can be found in other areas of Northern England and Scotland.
* Many words ending in ''-own'' are pronounced {{IPA|[-ʌun]}} (cf. Geordie: {{IPA|[-uːn]}}).{{clarify|date=August 2011|reason=This is too vague and it can't possibly based on spelling anyway, since English orthography is wildly inconsistent. "Town"/"noun" versus "own"/"bone" have radically different pronunciations. Which one are we talking about here?  And how is the OTHER pronounced?}}
* ''School'' is split into two [[syllable]]s, with a short {{IPA|[ə]}} in between, {{IPA|[ˈskʉ.əl]}}. This is also the case for words with a {{sc2|GOOSE}} vowel preceding {{IPA|/l/}}, which are monosyllabic in some other dialects, such as ''cruel'', ''fuel'' and ''fool'', in Mackem which are {{IPA|[ˈkrʉ.əl]}}, {{IPA|[ˈfjʉ.əl]}} and {{IPA|[ˈfʉ.əl]}} respectively.
* This "extra syllable" occurs in other words spoken in Mackem dialect, i.e. ''film'' is {{IPA|[ˈfɪləm]}}. This feature has led to some words being very differently pronounced in Sunderland. The word ''face'', due to the inclusion of an extra {{IPA|[ə]}} and the contraction thereof, is often pronounced {{IPA|[ˈfjas]}}. While {{IPA|[ˈfjas]}} and some other cases of this extra vowel have been observed in the Geordie dialect,<ref>{{cite web|title=Where I Actually Live|work=Blast|publisher=BBC Lincolnshire|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire/content/articles/2006/08/09/whereiactuallylive_feature.shtml|access-date=21 September 2007|date=5 August 2006}}</ref> 
*''Book'' rhymes with ''spook'' as in Northumberland and on Tyneside, however, there is a difference in vowel quality between Tyneside {{IPA|[ˈbuːk]}} and Mackem {{IPA|[bʉːk]}}, {{IPA|[bəuk]}} or {{IPA|[ˈbᵊuk]}}.
* The {{sc2|COMMA}} vowel pronounced {{IPA|[ə]}} as in Received Pronunciation, unlike the [[rhotic and non-rhotic accents|rhotic]] Scots variant. Cf. Geordie {{IPA|[æ]}}.
* Most words that have the {{sc2|TRAP}} vowel are pronounced with a short {{IPA|/æ/}} such as ''after, laughter, pasta.'' However, in the same way as the Geordie dialect, the words ''plaster'' and ''master'' are often pronounced with a long {{IPA|/ɑː/}}. This is not found in most northern accents apart from in the North East.
* The Mackem accent is different from Geordie in some instances. For example, the pronunciation of ''curry'' is often more like ''cerry.'' As well as this the use of oo <u:> in words with the BROWN vowel isn't as frequent as it is in the Geordie accent (Sunderland=town v Newcastle=toon), however, this feature was traditionally found in all dialects north of the [[Humber–Lune Line]]. 
*In words such as ''green'' and ''cheese'' it has been said that the Sunderland accent has more of a {{IPA|[ɛi]}} diphthong instead of the standard {{IPAc-en|iː}} vowel in most dialects of English.{{sfnp|Pearce|2012|p=12}}
* [[H-dropping]] in words such as ''him, her, half'' is said to be a feature in [[Sunderland]], [[Butterknowle]], [[Hartlepool]] and [[Middlesbrough]], but not in other areas of the North East.{{sfnp|Pearce|2009}}{{sfnp|Burbano-Elizondo|2008}}{{clarify|date=August 2011|reason=What's the IPA?}}
* {{IPA|/l/}} is traditionally clear in all contexts, meaning the [[Dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants#Velarized alveolar lateral approximant|velarised allophone]] is absent.<ref name="Beal">{{cite book |last1=Beal |first1=Joan, C. |last2=Burbano-Elizondo |first2=Lourdes |last3=Llamas |first3=Carmen |title=Urban North-eastern English: Tyneside to Teesside (Dialects of English) |date=2012 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh}}</ref>

==Grammar==
===Definite article===
Unlike some Northern English varieties the definite article is never reduced. As in Scots and other Northumbrian dialects the definite article is used in a wider range of contexts than in standard English, including kinship terms, names of institutions, temporal expressions, illnesses, and even numbers.<ref name="Beal"/>
===Indefinite Article===
The indefinite article is used with ''one'' in certain contexts.

===Modal verbs===
Modals '''can''' and '''will''' as well as the verb '''de''' (do) have uncontracted negative forms.<ref name="Beal"/>
{|class="wikitable"
|- align=left
!width=199| Word!!width=199| Affirmative!!width=199| Negative
|-
| do || de || dinnet
|-
| will || will || winnet
|-
| can || can || cannet
|}

The use of ''dinnet'' contrasts with Geordie ''divvent''.

===Pronouns===
{|class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Standard English || Mackem
|-
|I, me, myself, mine, my||I, is, mesel, mine, me<ref name="Beal"/>
|-
|we, us, ourselves, ours, our||we, us, oursels, our
|-
|you (singular), you (plural), yourself, yours, your||ye, youse, yoursel/yersel, your/yer
|-
|they, them, themselves, theirs, their||they, them, themsels/theirsels, theirs, their
|}

==Vocabulary==
*aight - eight
*alang - along
*alarn - alone
*an arl - as well, also (compare Scots an aw)
*an't - aren't (interrogative)
*aye - yes
*beut - boot
*blar - blow
*canny - good or a lot
*card - cold 
*clarts - mud
*clip - slap; in a poor state
*clivver - clever 
*clout - hit
*dinnar - dunno
*diz - does
*dizn't - doesn't
*fower - four
*fyace, pyat - face
*gan - go
*garn - going (''gannin'' is favoured in surrounding colliery towns)
*gie's - give me
*git - very
*grar - grow 
*knar - know
*lang - long
*leet - light
*mair - more
*mak - make
*marra - friend, acquaintance
*nak - hurt
*ne - no (determiner)
*neet - night
*neen - none
*nivver - never
*nor - no 
*owld - old 
*pund - pound
*reet - right
*rund - round
*snar - snow
*spelk - splinter 
*spuggy - sparrow 
*tak - take
*te - to
*telt - told 
*the neet - tonight
*the morra - tomorrow
*tret - treated 
*wad - would
*waddent - wouldn’t 
*watter - water
*wesh - wash
*wey - well (wey nar = well no)
*whe - who
*whese - whose
*wrang - wrong
*yem - home
*yisterda - yesterday

==See also==
* [[Monkey hanger]]
* [[Smoggie]]
* [[Sandancer]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite journal|last=Pearce|first=Michael|date=31 March 2009|title=A Perceptual Dialect Map of North East England|journal=Journal of English Linguistics|volume=37|issue=2|pages=162–192|doi=10.1177/0075424209334026|s2cid=144694398|url=http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/855/1/Pearce_2009.pdf}}
* {{cite journal|last=Pearce|first=Michael|date=2012|title=Folk accounts of dialect differences in Tyne and Wear|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274237721|journal=Dialectologia et Geolinguistica|volume=20|issue=1|doi=10.1515/dialect-2012-0001|pages=5–25|s2cid=144961746}}
* {{cite thesis|last=Burbano-Elizondo|first=Lourdes|date=2008|title=Language variation and identity in Sunderland |url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/3644/ |type=PhD |publisher=University of Sheffield }}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.virtualsunderland.co.uk/misc/mackems.htm Mackems] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216104346/http://www.virtualsunderland.co.uk/misc/mackems.htm |date=16 December 2013 }} Virtual Sunderland
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140516234500/http://wearonline.co.uk/ Wear Online – Home of the Mackem Dictionary]

{{City of Sunderland}}
{{English dialects by continent}}

[[Category:City of Sunderland]]
[[Category:British regional nicknames]]
[[Category:People from Sunderland]]
[[Category:Culture in Tyne and Wear]]
[[Category:Languages of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English language in England]]
[[Category:City colloquials]]