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English 310: The English Language
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Fall 2009 — Prof. Annie Ingram
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Outline of this guide:
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Other resources:
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Questions? Contact Susanna Boylston (704-894-2494).
Reference Works
English-Language Dictionaries | Etymologies | Idioms, Usage, Slang, & Swearing | New Words | Grammar | General Works on Language & Linguistics
- English-Language Dictionaries
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. New updated ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007.
The library also has a copy of the 3rd edition in Reference (R 423 A512 1992).
- An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882-18[98].
Reference R 429 B74a
Use in conjunction with Toller's An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary ... Supplement (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921), shelved at Reference R 429 B74a-s.
- Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Ed. Katherine Barber. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004.
Reference R 423 C212
- Dictionary of Old English A-F [CD-ROM]. Ed. Angus Cameron et al. Toronto, Canada: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2003.
Little Library Circulation Desk CD Case
See also the DOE's Word of the Week.
- Dictionary of the Scots Language
Includes both The Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue and The Scottish National Dictionary.
- Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2003.
Reference R 423 W38nc 2003
- Middle English Dictionary. Ed. Hans Kurath. 13 vols. Ann Arbor, MI: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1952–2002.
Reference R 427 M62
The online version is part of the Middle English Compendium at the University of Michigan; in addition to the Middle English Dictionary, the Middle English Compendium contains a HyperBibliography of Middle English and the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse.
- The New Oxford American Dictionary. Erin McKean. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005.
Reference R 423 N5321 2005
- The Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Ed. J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner. 2nd ed. 20 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
Reference R 423 O98m
The online version also contains entries being prepared for the third edition.
The first edition of the OED is still a useful resource; see A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, edited by A.H. Murray et al. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888–1928), shelved in Reference at call number R 423 O98.
Check out the OED's Word of the Day too.
- Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. 2nd ed. New York: Random House, 2001.
Reference R 423 R194 2001
- Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language. Ed. William Allan Neilson. 2nd ed. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1959.
Reference R 423 W38n, 1959
- Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language. Ed. Philip Babcock Grove. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, [1971].
Reference R 423 W38n3, 1971
Use in conjunction with 6,000 Words: A Supplement to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1976), shelved in Reference at call number R 423 S625.
- Etymologies
In addition to the dictionaries above, see:
- The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology. Ed. Robert K. Barnhart. Bronx, NY: H.W. Wilson, 1988.
Reference R 422 B262
- Dictionary of Word Origins. John Ayto. New York: Arcade, 1991.
Reference R 422.03 A988d
- Idioms, Usage, Slang, & Swearing
Be sure to search ebrary too.
- The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Christine Ammer. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
- The American Heritage Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.
Reference R 423.1 A512
- The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.
- Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003.
Reference R 423.1 C178
- The Cassell Dictionary of Slang. Comp. Jonathan Green. London: Cassell, 1998.
Reference R 427 G796c
- Credo Reference
A collection of electronic reference books, including a number of dictionaries of idioms, slang, and swearing; several are also listed separately in this section.
- Dictionary of American Regional English. Ed. Frederic G. Cassidy. 4 vols. to date. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1985- .
Reference R 427.973 D554
- Dictionary of American Slang. Ed. Robert L. Chapman. 3rd ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
Reference R 427 C466d3
- Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. Tony Thorne. 3rd ed. London: A & C Black, 2007.
- An Encyclopedia of Swearing: The Social History of Oaths, Profanity, Foul Language, and Ethnic Slurs in the English-Speaking World. Geoffrey Hughes. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2006.
- English Dialect Dictionary. Ed. Joseph Wright. 6 vols. London: Frowde, 1898-1905.
Reference R 427 W95e
- Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage. William Morris and Nancy Morris. 2nd ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.
Reference R 423.1 M877h
- Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang. Ed. Clarence Major. New York: Penguin, 1994.
Reference R 427.973 J91
- New Fowler’s Modern English Usage. Ed. R.W. Burchfield. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
Reference R 423 F78m, 1996
For earlier editions of H.W. Fowler's works, see A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, 2nd. ed., rev. by Ernest Gowers (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1965), shelved at Reference R 423 F78d2, and The King's English, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930), shelved in the Little Library Stacks at 428.3 F78k.
- The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Ed. Tom Dalzell. 2 vols. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Reference R 427 P27d 2006
See also Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 5th ed. (London: Routledge, [1961]), shelved in Reference at call number R 427 P27d5
For other works by Eric Partridge, see Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English (New York: Norton, 1995), shelved at Reference R 428 P275u, A Dictionary of the Underworld, British & American (London: Routledge, 1964), shelved at Reference R 427 P27di, and Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 3rd. ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1961), shelved at Reference R 422 P27o.
- The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms. Ed. Judith Siefring. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004.
Reference R 423.1 O982 2004
- The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. John Ayto and John Simpson. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992.
Reference R 427 O98
- Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang. Ed. J.E. Lighter. 2 vols. to date. New York: Random House, 1994- .
Reference R 427.9 H673
- Right, Wrong, and Risky: A Dictionary of Today's American English Usage. Mark Davidson. New York: Norton, 2006.
Reference R 423.1 D253r
- The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English. Ed. Tom Dalzell. New York: Routledge, 2009.
- New Words
In addition to the OED Online, consult the following:
- Facts on File Dictionary of New Words. Harold LeMay. New York: Facts on File, 1988.
Reference R 423 L549f
- The Oxford Dictionary of New Words. Ed. Elizabeth Knowles. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998.
Reference R 423.1 O981
- Third Barnhart Dictionary of New English. Ed. Robert K. Barnhart and Sol Steinmetz. Bronx, NY: H.W. Wilson, 1990.
Reference R 423 B262
- Grammar
- The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey Pullum. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2002.
Reference R 425 H884c
- Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. Sylvia Chalker and Edmund Weiner. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998.
Reference R 428 C436o 1998
- General Works on Language & Linguistics
- The Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, Phonology, and Sound Change. William Labov et al. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2006.
Reference R 427.9 L125a Atlas Stand
- The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. David Crystal. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003.
Reference R 420 C957c
- The Cambridge History of the English Language. Ed. Richard M. Hogg. 6 vols. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992-2001.
Little Library Stacks 420.9 C178
- Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers: A Decade-by-Decade Guide to the Vanishing Vocabulary of the Twentieth Century. Rosemarie Ostler. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003.
Reference R 428 O85d
- The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics. R.L. Trask. Chicago, IL: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000.
Reference R 417 T775d
- A Dictionary of Linguistics & Phonetics. David Crystal. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003.
- An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Language and Languages. David Crystal. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.
Reference R 410.3 C957e
- Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Ed. R.E. Asher. 10 vols. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1994.
Reference R 403 E56
- Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Ed. Philipp Strazny. 2 vols. New york: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2005.
Reference R 410.3 E56
- International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Ed. William J. Frawley. 2nd ed. 4 vols. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003.
Reference R 410.3 I61 2003
- Linguistic Atlas of England. Ed. Harold Orton et al. London: Croom Helm, 1978.
Reference Atlas Stand R 912.1 L755
- Oxford Companion to the English Language. Ed. Tom McArthur. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992.
Reference R 420 M116o
- Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Hadumod Bussmann. New York: Routledge, 1996.
Reference R 410.3 B981r
- The World Atlas of Language Structures. Ed. Martin Haspelmath et al. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005.
Reference Atlas Stand R 410.9 W927
Books
- Library Catalog
Includes information about books, government documents, and journals, magazines, and newspapers in the Library. - To locate works about a person, do a subject search for the person's name (last name first).
- To locate bibliographies on a person or topic, do a keyword search and add the following: su bibliography.
- To locate appropriate Library of Congress Subject Headings, start with a keyword search and then browse records.
Useful subject headings include:
- Americanisms
- English language
- English language dialects [name of country or state]
- English language early modern
- English language etymology
- English language grammar
- English language history
- English language idioms
- English language Middle English
- English language Old English
- English language slang
Search Syntax: - Truncation: use a dollar sign $
- Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
- Wildcard: use a question mark ?
- ebrary
A collection of over 38,000 e-books published by over 220 academic, trade, and professional publishers; covers all subject areas. Also includes tools that allow you to create your own virtual bookshelf, bookmark pages, and add and save notes and highlights.
Note: for full functionality, you need the ebrary Reader. This plugin is on all library and ITS computers, but if you are using your own computer, you can download it from the ebrary home page.
- WorldCat
Indexes books, periodicals, and other materials held by libraries around the world. Search WorldCat to identify additional books on your topic and then order the books on interlibrary loan.
Note: It can be helpful to identify relevant Library of Congress Subject Headings in the Library Catalog first; you can then do a subject search in WorldCat to find additional items with these subject headings.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: insert a "w" between the words in a phrase (for example, "cold w war")
- Wildcard: use a question mark ?
Articles
Starting Points | Language & Linguistics | Other Sources
- Starting Points
- Academic Search Premier
(1975 to present) Indexes popular and scholarly articles in a broad range of subject areas; also includes citations to book reviews and citations to articles in several national newspapers.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
- Wildcard: use a question mark ?
- OmniFile Full Text Mega
(1982 to present) Indexes articles from over 3,000 scholarly and popular periodicals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences; also includes the full text of selected articles from over 1,650 of these periodicals.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
- Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
- Language & Linguistics
- Annotated Bibliography of Southern American English. James McMillan and Michael Montgomery. Tuscaloosa, AL: Univ. of Alabama Press, 1989.
Reference R 016.42 M167a, 1989
- Annual Bibliography of English Language & Literature (ABELL)
Indexes journal articles and books published from 1920 to present; also includes citations to book reviews. Covers all literatures in English as well as the English language, bibliography, textual studies, and the history of publishing.
ABELL is a particularly good source of information about books published in the U.K. Many of these works do not appear in the MLAIB.
- BL Online: The Bibliographic Database of Linguistics
Note: this database is currently free, but later this fall, it will become fee-based, and we will lose access.
(1993 to present) Contains all of the entries in Bibliographie Linguistique/Linguistic Bibliography for the years 1993-1999. Includes citations to scholarly articles and books in the field of linguistics; covers all branches of linguistics and includes citations to publications in related fields, such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and computer science. International in scope.
To locate articles from earlier years, consult the print volumes of Bibliographie Linguistique/Linguistic Bibliography (1939-1999), shelved at Reference R 016.4 P451b.
- Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts: LLBA. La Jolla, CA: Sociological Abstracts, 1967- .
Bound Periodicals
Lists articles and books in the area of linguistics, languages, communications, and education. Includes abstracts.
- MLA International Bibliography
(1926 to present). Indexes journal articles, books, and doctoral dissertations in the fields of English, American, European, Asian, African, and Latin American linguistics, modern languages and literatures, film studies, and folklore.
For more information, see the MLAIB Search Planner.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
- Wildcard: use a question mark ?
- Web of Knowledge
(Publication coverage: c. 1900 to present) A multidisciplinary resource that provides citations to articles in thousands of journals in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: use double quotations marks " "
- Wildcard: use a question mark ?
- Other Sources
- Essay & General Literature Index
(1900 to present) Indexes chapters and essays in edited collections.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
- Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
- Humanities Abstracts
(1907 to present). Indexes articles in over 500 English-language journals in the fields of archaeology, art, classics, communication, film, folklore, history, languages and literatures, music, philosophy, religion, and theatre. Also includes citations for book, theatre, and film reviews as well as interviews, obituaries, and some original creative works. Includes the full text of selected articles from 1995 to the present.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
- Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
- JSTOR
Includes pdf copies of scholarly articles from a core collection of journals; also includes book reviews. Note:JSTOR does not contain articles from the most recent 3-5 years.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: use a plus sign +
- Phrase searching: automatic
- Periodicals Index Online
(c. 1665-1995) Indexes journal and magazine articles as well as book reviews in a broad array of humanities, social sciences, and science subjects.
Search Syntax:
- Truncation: use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: automatic
- Project Muse
Contains full-text articles from journals published by university and scholarly presses.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
- PsycINFO
(1887 to present) Contains citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, and technical reports, as well as citations to dissertations, all in the field of psychology and related disciplines.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: use a dollar sign $
- Wildcard: use a question mark ?
- Social Sciences Abstracts
(1907 to present) Indexes journal articles and some book reviews on all social sciences subjects, including history, political science, international relations, law, economics, area studies, gender studies, anthropology, psychology, and sociology.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
- Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
- Sociological Abstracts
(1963 to present) Indexes journal articles in sociology and related fields, including anthropology, economics, education, philosophy, political science, and social psychology.
Search Syntax: - Truncation: use an asterisk *
- Phrase searching: automatic
- Wildcard: use a question mark ?
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