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Linguistics and Study of Human Language
Databases, Books and Background Resources on Linguistics
Modern Languages & Linguistics Librarian
Definition: Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language and its structure including the study of morphology, syntax, phonetics, phonology and semantics.
Best Bets
- World Atlas of Language Structures Online (WALS) This link opens in a new windowA database of maps and bibliographical references on the structural properties (phonological, grammatical, lexical) of languages. Includes information on location, linguistic affiliation and basic classification features of more than 2,650 languages. A joint project of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Max Planck Digital Library.
- Oxford English Dictionary - OED (2nd ed.) This link opens in a new windowPremier resource for etymological studies containing the meaning, history, and derivation of over half a million words in the English language. Provides examples of both current and historical word usage through more than 2.5 million quotations from a variety of sources. Includes etymological analysis, pronunciation, and variant spellings.
- Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries Online (Brill Online) This link opens in a new windowA collection of etymological dictionaries that together reconstruct the lexicon for the most important languages and language branches of Indo-European. Includes Latin, Greek, Slavic, Proto-Celtic, Old-Frisian, Armenian, Hittite, Luvian, Iranian verb, Proto-Nostratic, Baltic, Tocharian B, Lithuanian, North Lechitic Dialects, and Proto-Germanic. Dictionaries can be cross-searched or searched individually. Each entry has grammatical info, meaning(s), etymological commentary, reconstructions, cognates and bibliographical information.
- Atlas of the World's Languages by R. E. Asher and Christopher Moseley (Editors)Call Number: E-bookPublication Date: 2018 2nd editionThis revised edition depicts the location of every known living language, including languages on the point of extinction. Includes a general linguistic history of each section and an overview of the genetic relations of the languages. Covers over 6,000 languages with 150 full-color maps.
- Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) This link opens in a new windowDictionary of 60,000 entries, audio recordings, interactive maps, and survey data focusing on the regional language of the United States.
- eHRAF (Human Relations Area Files - HRAF) World Cultures This link opens in a new windowThe Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) is a full-text collection of primary and secondary materials and ethnographies on nearly 400 different ethnic, cultural, religious, and national groups worldwide. It is useful for finding information on a particular culture or cultural trait or for making cross-cultural comparisons. HRAF includes thousands of pages of text from books, articles, dissertations, and unpublished manuscripts as well as English translations of foreign texts. Search by keyword, geographic (OWC) codes, or topical (OCM) classification scheme.
- What Languages Do We Speak in the U.S.?Information and statistics on language in the U.S from the American Community Survey, U.S. Census. 12/6/2022
Databases for Articles in Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowIndexes the international literature in linguistics and language sciences. Includes abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews, books, book chapters, and dissertations. Significant linkage to full text. 1920 - current.
- MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowIndexes critical scholarship on literature, criticism, language, linguistics, and folklore. Includes thousands of titles including journals, series, monographs, dissertations, bibliographies, proceedings, and other materials, from the late 19th century to the present.
- Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC) (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowIncorporates the indexes CommSearch and Mass Media Articles Index along with numerous other journals in communication and mass media studies. Offers cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for over 370 journals and selected coverage of over 230 more, with full-text articles for more than 240 journals. Coverage for some titles begins in 1915.
- Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowThe Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) lists monographs, periodical articles, critical editions of literary works, book reviews and collections of essays published anywhere in the world; unpublished doctoral dissertations are covered for the period 1920s-1999. The bibliography consists of 80 volumes, beginning in 1920 and issued annually; a number of items published between 1892 and 1919 has been indexed retrospectively.
- Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowComprehensive multidisciplinary, multilingual source for articles in scholarly and professional journals, magazines, newspapers, conference proceedings and more. All subjects.
Coverage: 1867-current. Updated daily - Dissertations & Theses Global (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowProvides citations and abstracts, as well as full text PDFs, to millions of doctoral dissertations and master's theses from graduate schools and universities around the world. Full text coverage is primarily from 1997 forward, with a significant number of full text titles previous to 1997. Coverage is from 1637 to the present.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowSearch current and retrospective information from 12,000+ high-impact research journals worldwide. Provides seamless access to Science Citation Expanded (1900- ), Social Sciences Citation Index (1900- ), Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975- ), Conference Proceedings Index (1990- ), and Emerging Sources Citation Index (2005-2017). Cited reference searching enables tracking prior research, gauging the impact of research, and to locate articles that share common references.
Ethnologue
- Ethnologue This link opens in a new windowAuthoritative resource on world languages. Provides quantitative and qualitative language information such as country, population, dialects, language status, and maps.
- Ethnologue: Languages of The World by M. Paul Lewis (Editor)Call Number: P371 .E83 2009 16th EditionPublication Date: 2009Ethnologue remains one of the most useful scholarly reference sources on languages of the world. The Ethnologue: Languages of the World, The comprehensive reference volume catalogs all the known living languages .It is widely regarded to be the most comprehensive listing of information of its kind. A new edition is published approximately every four years.
- Ethnologue: Languages of Asia by David M. Eberhard (Editor); Gary F. Simons (Editor); Charles D. Fennig (Editor)Call Number: P381.A3 E84 2019Publication Date: 2019Comprehensive reference work cataloging all known living languages. This volume includes: 2,341 languages of Asia with descriptions organized by continent and country, 17,822 primary names, alternate names, and dialect names, 53 country overviews with graphical language vitality profiles 78 color maps show location and distribution of languages.
- Ethnologue: Languages of Africa and Asia by David M. Eberhard (Editor); Gary F. Simons (Editor); Charles D. Fennig (Editor)Call Number: P381.A3 E846 2019 22nd editionPublication Date: 2019Comprehensive reference work that catalogs all the known living languages in the world today. Ethnologue(R) is published in three volumes. Each volume is self-contained and can be used independently. This volume catalogs the languages of Africa and Europe. It includes: 2,474 language descriptions organized by continent and country 20,112 primary names, alternate names, and dialect names 108 country overviews with graphical language vitality profiles 83 color maps showing location and distribution of languages
- Ethnologue: Languages of the Americas and the Pacific by David M. Eberhard (Editor); Gary F. Simons (Editor); Charles D. Fennig (Editor)Call Number: P376 .E84 22nd editionPublication Date: 2019This volume catalogs the languages of the Americas and the Pacific. It includes: 2,644 language descriptions organized by continent and country 15,598 primary names, alternate names, and dialect names 81 country overviews with graphical language vitality profiles 75 color maps showing location and distribution of languages.
Other Article Databases for Linguistics
- Abstracts in Anthropology (Sage) This link opens in a new windowComprehensive abstracting and indexing of journal articles in anthropological scholarship and its subfields: cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics. 1970-current.
- Anthropological Literature (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowSelectively indexes articles in anthropology and archaeology. Specifically, this includes social and cultural anthropology, archaeology, physical anthropology and related subjects, with an emphasis on Mesoamerican, Native American and Andean archaeology and ethnology. Coverage: 18th century to the present.
- Anthropological Index Online of the Royal Anthropological InstituteCovers worldwide literature in general anthropology, physical and cultural anthropology, archaeology, ethnology, and linguistics. Material is arranged geographically. Published quarterly. The Anthropological Index Online is the anthropological index to current periodicals in the Museum of Mankind Library (incorporating the former Royal Anthropological Institute Library). Coverage: 1957 to present. Citations only.
- ACM Digital Library This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text access to computer science and information technology literature in all ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) journals and magazines, transactions, conference proceedings, and SIG newsletters. Some coverage begins in the 1950s.
- ERIC (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowERIC, the Educational Resource Information Center, provides access to education literature and resources. The database provides unlimited access to more than 1.3 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials, with hundreds of new records added twice weekly. If available, links to full text are included.
- Humanities Full Text (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowIncludes feature articles, interviews, obituaries and original works of fiction, drama, poetry and more from scholarly sources and specialized magazines. Covers topics related to art, classical studies, dance, film, journalism, philosophy, religion and more.
- Inspec (Elsevier) This link opens in a new windowIndexes research literature in the fields of physics, electronics, computing, control engineering, and information technology. Features more than 8 million records from 3,500 technical and scientific journals and 1,500 conference proceedings.
- PsycINFO (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowCovers professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines. Contains over two million citations and summaries of articles from journals, books, book chapters, dissertations, and technical reports. Some full-text.
- WorldCat (OCLC) This link opens in a new windowComprehensive online catalog of library holdings locally and worldwide. Lists books, journals, maps, recordings, films, scores, open access resources, and other materials from academic, public, corporate, and specialized libraries. Get It For Me button allows you to request to borrow an item.
Certificate in Linguistics - UTSA
- Certificate in Linguistics - UTSACOLFA - Modern Languages and Literature