Harold Orton

Infobox Person
name = Harold Orton
birth_date = birth date|1898|10|23|mf=y
birth_place = Byers Green, Durham, England
death_date = death date and age|1975|3|7|1898|10|23|mf=y
death_place =
occupation = Linguist

Harold Orton (October 23 1898 – March 7 1975) was an English university lecturer and dialectologist, best remembered as co-founder of the Survey of English Dialects. Orton developed the questionnaire for the survey together with Eugen Dieth.

During World War I, Orton served as lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry, where he was wounded severely in 1918, never regaining full use of his right arm. He worked as lecturer at Uppsala (1924-28), as lecturer at Armstrong College, Newcastle (now the University of Newcastle) (1928-39) and as lecturer in charge of the department of English language, University of Sheffield (1939-46). In 1947 received a chair at the University of Leeds, where he taught until his retirement in 1964. He was visiting professor at Kansas (1965, 1967, 1968), Iowa (1966), Tennessee (1970, 1972, 1973) and Belmont College, Nashville (1971).

Bibliography (selection)

* Orton, Harold (1930). "The Phonology of a South Durham Dialect." London.
* Orton, Harold (1971). "Editorial Problems of an English Dialect Atlas." In: Burghardt, Lorraine H. (ed.): "Dialectology: Problems and Perspectives." Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee, 79-115.
* Orton, Harold and Eugen Dieth (1952). "A Questionnaire for a Linguistic Atlas of England." Leeds: Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society.
* Orton, Harold and Nathalia Wright (1972). "Questionnaire for the Investigation of American Regional English." Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee.
* Orton, Harold and Nathalia Wright (1975). "A Word Geography of England." New York: Seminar Press.
* Orton, Harold et al (1962-71). "Survey of English Dialects: Basic Materials." Introduction and 4 vols. (each in 3 parts). Leeds: E. J. Arnold & Son.

References

* McDavid, Raven I. Jr (1976). "Harold Orton: 23 October 1898-7 March 1975." In: American Speech 51, 219-222.