Research Guides: Linguistics: General Linguistics

General Linguistics Research Guide

Online Encyclopedias and Reference

The following links will take you to online encyclopedias and reference manuals to help you get started on your research. Here you can find general background information, definitions, and history on many linguistic terms and concepts.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences (Online)
Publication Date: 2010-11-15
It includes basic entries for those unfamiliar with a given topic and more specific entries for those seeking more specialized knowledge. It incorporates both well-established findings and cutting-edge research and classical approaches and new theoretical innovations. The volume is aimed at readers who have an interest in some aspect of language science but wish to learn more about the broad range of ideas, findings, practices, and prospects that constitute this rapidly expanding field, a field arguably at the center of current research on the human mind and human society.

Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics
David Crystal's A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics has long been the standard single-volume reference for its field. Now available in its sixth edition, it has been revised and updated to reflect the latest terms in the field.

Print Encyclopedias

The library also has a number of print encyclopedias that can be found in the Reference section on the second floor of the library. Reference books cannot be checked out of the library but there are scanners available on the second floor that can be used to scan information from these texts into a PDF which you can email to yourself.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal
Call Number: P29.C64 2010
This new, thoroughly revised edition of the acclaimed Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language incorporates the major developments in language study which have taken place since the mid 1990s. Two main new areas have been added: the rise of electronic communication in all its current forms from email to texting, and the crisis affecting the world's languages, of which half are thought to be so seriously endangered that they will die out this century.
International Encyclopedia of Linguistics by William J. Frawley (Editor)
Call Number: Ref P29 .I58 2003
Publication Date: 2003-05-01
Encompasses the full range of the contemporary field of linguistics, including historical, comparative, formal, mathematical, functional, and philosophical linguistics with special attention given to interrelations within branches of linguistics and to relations of linguistics with other disciplines. Areas of intersection with the social and behavioral sciences--ethnolinguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and behavioral linguistics--receive major coverage, along with interdisciplinary work in language and literature, mathematical linguistics, computational linguistics, and applied linguistics.
Linguistics by Anna L. DeMiller; James Rettig (Contribution by)
Call Number: Ref. Z7001.D45 2000
Thoroughly revised and updated with some 500 new entries-including the addition of pertinent Internet sites-this is the only bibliographic guide to information sources for linguistics. Coverage spans from 1957, the publication date of Chomsky's seminal work, to the present, with emphasis on English-language resources. DeMiller's detailed citations describe and evaluate each work, often offering comparisons to similar titles. Its broad coverage and in-depth reviews make this work essential to the research and study of general or theoretical linguistics. The book is also indispensable in the related areas of anthropological linguistics, applied linguistics, mathematical and computation linguistics, psycholinguistics, semiotics, and sociolinguistics, which are all treated in separate chapters, as well as the study of language and languages from a linguistic perspective.
The Linguistics Encyclopedia by Kirsten Malmkjaer (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. P 29 .L52 2002
The Linguistics Encyclopedia has been thoroughly revised and updated and a substantial new introduction, which forms a concise history of the field, has been added.
The volume offers comprehensive coverage of the major and subsidiary fields of linguistic study. Entries are alphabetically arranged and extensively cross-referenced, and include suggestions for further reading.

Search the entire library catalog using the Books+ Tab here.

Materials on Linguistics topics are found under the "P" category, which is on 3rd floor of the Chester Fritz Library.

P1-1091	Philology. Linguistics
P95-95.6	Oral communication. Speech
P101-410	Language. Linguistic theory. Comparative grammar
P121-149	Science of language (Linguistics)
P306-310	Translating and interpreting
P501-769	Indo-European (Indo-Germanic) philology

If the library does not have them item, use Worldcat and Interlibrary Loan (ILL) what you need:

WorldCat (FirstSearch) This link opens in a new window
OCLC catalog of books, web resources, and other material worldwide

Interlibrary Loan
Use this link to borrow books and articles from other libraries

Other Helpful Book Search Tools

HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
Good source for e-texts, many are freely available because not under copyright restriction. Others would need to be interlibrary loaned because UND is not a partner

Featured Books

Currently, the featured books section highlights some of the library's best handbooks & companions for linguistics, which typically offer the reader an opportunity to survey and learn about a broad field of scholarship in a comprehensive way. They give a snap shop of the discipline covered at the time the book is published. Unlike a retrospective collection of articles, these guides are written or edited as a planned and intentional effort, with chapters and sections interrelating and complimenting one another and thereby tend to be more readable and integrated research works.

Sociolinguistics: a Very Short Introduction by John Edwards
Call Number: P40.E375 2013
This Very Short Introduction deals with the social life of language: language in its sociocultural context. The field ranges from micro-analyses to broadly-based policy and planning undertakings. As such, this book draws from sociolinguistics, the sociology of language, and psycholinguistics. The relationship between language and identity - whether of an individual or a group - is a strong thread linking all the topics covered in the book. The "ordinary," instrumental, communicative aspects of language cannot be adequately understood without paying attention to the "symbolic" features that powerfully underpin feelings and attributions of "groupness" and "belonging." The book therefore focuses more on macro sociological areas than to fine-grained analyses of variation in linguistic features (though the latter are not ignored). Edwards explains the differential social evaluations of languages and dialects, how names (and naming) are much more than simple designations, why some languages come to dominate others, as well as questions about the relationship between language and gender, sexist language, the language of poverty, the intertwining of language and religion, and politically driven language planning and policy.
Source Book for Linguistics by William Cowan (Editor); J. Rakusan
Call Number: P121.C62 1998
This is a revised and expanded edition of Cowan and Raku an's "Source Book for Linguistics." In addition to the chapters on Phonetics, Phonology, Phonological Alternations, Morphology, Syntax, Sound Change and Historical Reconstruction, there are two new chapters: one on Semantics and one on Grammatical and Lexical Change. In addition, an index of the 93 languages and dialects represented in the book has been added, as well as a revised bibliography.
Handbook of Descriptive Linguistic Fieldwork by Shobhana L. Chelliah & Willem J. de Reuse.
Call Number: P128.F53 C44 2011
Presents the field of linguistic fieldwork from four points of view: the geographical, the historical, the philosophical and the encyclopedic. It also examines the historical, political, and social variables correlating with fieldwork in different areas of the world. Extensive practical fieldwork tips are provided, as well as a handy sketch of major typological features for use in linguistic analysis.

Finding Articles through Databases

Use databases to find academic articles to continue your research. Below are the most helpful databases for finding relevant articles for linguistics.

Communication Source This link opens in a new window
This database combines both Communication Abstracts and Communication and Mass Media Complete and supports research in a wide variety of communication disciplines such as mass media, communications theory, linguistics, organizational communication and more. This is a searchable database that provides abstracts, indexing, and full-text content.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory and criticism, and the dramatic arts.

Good Starting Places for Journals

The following will help you find specific academic journals, most of which are published and peer-reviewed by experts in the field. If you want to narrow your search to a specific topic, country, or issue, finding a journal that publishes in that area can help.

JSTOR Linguistics Titles
Use the Search Box for specific topics or Browse table of contents for journals
Sage Journals Languages & Linguistics
Made for browsing journal homepages and setting up alerts to new content more than specific topic searches
Linguist List of Publications
Interface to search table of contents for journals and more.
SIL Language and Culture Archives
The Archives contains works collected, compiled, or created by SIL, its strategic partners, or members of ethnolinguistic minority communities. Search and browse over 40,000 resources dating from 1935 to the present that describe, document, and/or communicate in the languages and cultures SIL serves.

Dissertations & Theses - UND only This link opens in a new window
Dissertations from 1861 - present. Master's theses from 1988 - present. Access to full text of UND theses and dissertations from 1996-present is free. Access to citations and abstracts from other institutions is free.
Dissertations and Theses - All This link opens in a new window
Dissertations from 1861 - present. Master's theses from 1988 - present. Includes full text from both UND and external dissertations and theses. Hosted by Proquest.
OCLC WorldCat Dissertations and Theses This link opens in a new window
A database of all dissertations and theses available in WorldCat

Free access to selected UND Scholarly Work

UND Scholarly Commons
Search by author or by SIL

The Psychology of Language (Video)
"You know what's amazing? That we can talk to people, they can make meaning out of it, and then talk back to us. In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank talks to us and tries to make meaning out of how our brains do this thing called Language. Plus, monkeys!"-Video Description
Modern Languages (Oxford Podcasts Series)
Podcasts from the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, delivered in a variety of languages.