Orton Corpus

Description

Manuscript and typescript items relating to the Survey of Northumbrian Dialects conducted by Harold Orton during his time at Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. These items include fieldwork and research into the dialects of 34 localities chiefly in Northumberland, and including some in Durham and Tyne and Wear. There is also a small collection of correspondence relating to research undertaken on the Orton Corpus after Orton's death and the closure of the Institute of Dialect and Folk Life Studies.

Biography or history

The Armstrong College Survey of Northumbrian Dialects was inaugurated at Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (then part of the University of Durham) in November 1928, and continued until the outbreak of war in 1939. Harold Orton attributed the inception of the survey to W. L. Renwick, Professor of English at Armstrong College, but played a key role in its activities and progress. The focus of the survey appears to have been on the phonological study of Northumbrian dialects.


A biographical sketch of Harold Orton is contained within the LAVC fonds-level description.

System of arrangement

The subfonds has been arranged in the following four series:

- Raw Material

- Armstrong College Theses

- Index Cards

- Rydland Correspondence

Access and usage

Reproduction

Access

Some parts of this collection are in copyright. Photocopies or digital images of the material in copyright can be supplied for private study purposes only. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain the copyright holder’s permission for reproduction of copyright material for purposes other than research or private study. Guidance is available on tracing copyright status and ownership.

Some parts of this collection have not been listed in detail and the content may be protected under the Data Protection Act and other relevant legislation. Please consult the relevant part of the catalogue for specific details. Where a detailed record does not exist, please contact Special Collections. Upon receipt of your request, a member of the team will discuss your requirements with you and review relevant material accordingly

The catalogue titles or descriptions in this collection may contain terminology and phrases that would now be considered unacceptable. Where present these original terms continue to be included to preserve historical accuracy and provide social and historical context.

Publication Rights


Property rights reside with the University of Leeds. Copyright in unpublished papers, photographs and sound recordings are retained by their authors or his/her heirs or assigns, irrespective of present ownership. Permission to publish copyright material should be sought in writing from the Head of Special Collections, University of Leeds.

Related material

A number of Institute of Dialect Folk Life Studies undergraduate theses are based on Northumbrian dialects. See LAVC/COR/2 for details.



The Armstrong College Survey also includes a number of gramophone recordings of Northumbrian dialect speech collected by Harold Orton, G. Hornsby, and J. M. A. Lenihan. These discs are held at LAVC/SRE/D/1/001 -074. An audio-tape copy of samples of speakers from Acomb is held at LAVC/SRE/A684r.


Other papers by Orton are held at LAVC/SED/1, and in various other sections of the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture. These include a printed version of a talk delivered to the Yorkshire Dialect Society on Northumbrian dialects in 1930 ( LAVC/SED/1/2), and the text of a talk delivered to the Philological Society which discusses the Armstrong College Survey of Northumbrian dialects ( LAVC/SED/1/3/1/1).


For a list of references to other papers created and collected by Harold Orton see LAVC/SED/1 (Separated Material).

Related records in our catalogue

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