J.D.A. (John) Widdowson (born 1935) is a British

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

, recognized for his significant contributions to the study of English language and cultural traditions. He is the founder of the Centre for English Cultural Tradition and Language (CECTAL) at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

, which later became the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition (NATCECT), and he served as its director for four decades. Widdowson played a crucial role in the ''

Survey of English Dialects The Survey of English Dialects was undertaken between 1950 and 1961 under the direction of Harold Orton of the English department of the University of Leeds. It aimed to collect the full range of speech in England and Wales before local differe ...

'', co-editing the ''Linguistic Atlas of England'' (1978) and co-authoring its accompanying ''Dictionary and Grammar'' (1994). His extensive work also includes the creation of the ''Bibliography of British Folklore'' (1996) and the establishment of the Centre for English Traditional Heritage (CETH) in 2000. He is an honorary graduate of

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and served as President of

the Folklore Society The Folklore Society (FLS) is a registered charity under English law based in London, England for the study of folklore. Its office is at 50 Fitzroy Street, London home of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. It w ...

from 1987 to 1990.

Early life and education

Widdowson was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. He was educated at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

, where he completed his MA dissertation on the dialect of

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located between Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing village, it has a large ...

. He later earned his PhD in Newfoundland folklore from

Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

, Canada.

Career

In 1964 Widdowson founded the Sheffield Survey of Language and Folklore at the

, with the aim of collecting material and providing an academic resource centre. The Survey formed the basis of the Centre for English Cultural Tradition and Language (CECTAL) which was inaugurated in 1975 within the university's Department of English. From 1975, CECTAL and the Institute of Dialect and Folklife Studies (

), were the only two institutions which offered academic courses in Folklore in the UK. This remained the case until the latter's closure in 1984. In 1997, CECTAL was renamed the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition (NATCECT). Widdowson - who had headed all its previous iterations - remained as director of NATCECT until 2004. In collaboration with colleagues at the Institute of Dialect and Folklife Studies, Widdowson played a significant role in the

, being co-editor of the Survey's ''Linguistic Atlas of England'' (1978) and co-author of its ''Dictionary and Grammar'' (1994). He was also the lead for sites in England and in English-speaking areas of Wales for the

Atlas Linguarum Europae The ''Atlas Linguarum Europae'' (literally ''Atlas of the Languages of Europe'', ALE in acronym) is a linguistic atlas project launched in 1970 with the help of UNESCO, and published from 1975 to 2007. The ALE used its own phonetic transcription sy ...

for the initial period of cassette-recorded interviews. Between 1964 and 1999, Widdowson was editor of ''Lore and Language'', a newsletter created as part of the Sheffield Survey of Language and Folklore, for researchers into the study of language and folklore. The back run of ''Lore and Language'' is now digitised and freely available from Memorial University. In 1996, Widdowson published the ''Bibliography of British Folklore.'' It is an alphabetical listing of "British and Irish material ..its primary focus is on printed books relevant to the study of folklore in England." The titles contained within were drawn primarily from three collections'':'' The Herbert Halpert Folklore Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland; The Kenneth S. Goldstein Collection, Centre for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi; and The Library of the Folklore Society, University College London. The bibliography is now freely available online. In 2000 Widdowson founded the Centre for English Traditional Heritage (CETH). One of CETH's research projects is the Survey of English Tradition, which aims to "collect information on all aspects of language and tradition in England and throughout the British Isles". Widdowson and Janet E Alton co-edit the centre's e-journal, ''Tradition Today''. In 2016, ''Folklore'' published an article by Widdowson, 'New Beginnings: Towards a National Folklore Survey', which called for leading organizations to "undertake a comprehensive survey of the rich variety of traditions in our present-day multicultural society".

Recognition

Widdowson holds honorary degrees from Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of Edinburgh. Between 1987 and 1990 Widdowson served as President of the

Folklore Society The Folklore Society (FLS) is a registered charity under English law based in London, England for the study of folklore. Its office is at 50 Fitzroy Street, London home of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. It wa ...

. He was awarded the Society's Coote Lake Medal, for outstanding research and scholarship, in 2000.

Selected publications

* Widdowson, J. D. A (1977) ''If you don't be good: verbal social control in Newfoundland''. St. Johns: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

903568266. *Orton, Harold; Sanderson, Stewart; Widdowson, John (1978). ''The linguistic atlas of England''. London: Croom Helm.

466304700. * Kirk, John M; Sanderson, Stewart; Widdowson, J. D. A (1985). ''Studies in linguistic geography: the dialects of English in Britain and Ireland''. London: Croom Helm.

874511439''.'' * Upton, Clive; Sanderson, Stewart; Widdowson, J. D. A (1987). ''Word maps: a dialect atlas of England''. London: Croom Helm. .

1014618497. *Story, George Morley; Kirwin, William James; Widdowson, J. D. A (1990). ''Dictionary of Newfoundland English''. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press. .

883390761. * Upton, Clive; Parry, David; Widdowson, J. D. A (1994). ''Survey of English dialects: the dictionary and grammar''. London [etc.: Routledge. .

1120227862. * Widdowson, J. D. A (2002). ''Little Jack and other Newfoundland folktales''. St. John, Nfld.: Memorial University of Newfoundland, Folklore and Language Publications. .

51496439. *Widdowson, J. D. A; Halpert, Herbert (2016). ''Folktales of Newfoundland: the resilience of the oral tradition''. .

1062271032. * Kelsey, N. G. N. (2019). Alton, Janet E.; Widdowson, J. D. A. (eds). ''Games, rhymes, and wordplay of London children''. Palgrave Macmillan. .

References

External links

The John Widdowson Folklore Collection
at Sheffield Hallam University {{DEFAULTSORT:Widdowson, J. D. A. 1935 births Living people British folklorists Presidents of the Folklore Society Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of the University of Oxford English folklorists 20th-century British linguists 21st-century British linguists