Research Guides: Language Science: Reference Resources

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Using Reference Resources

Reference sources are a great starting point for starting research on a new topic because they provide general information on a topic. They often include the following types of information to help you get started:

Get an overview of a new or complex topic
Find out the names of key players in a given area
Locate terms that you can use in your research
Help narrow (or expand) your topic
Locate a bibliography of sources to help you start your research

Reference sources include encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and other sources like them. Some reference sources for language science-related topics are listed below.

Please note: for reference resources on linguistics in other languages, go to UC Library Search and enter search terms encyclopedia Arabic / Persian / Chinese / Japanese or whatever language you are looking for and search. You can do a similar search by replacing encyclopedia with handbook.

Researching topics in Language Science

Linguistics: A Very Short Introduction by P. H. Matthews
ISBN: 9780192801487
Publication Date: 2003
Linguistics: A Very Short Introduction considers a subject that falls between arts and science, on the edges of which fascinating discoveries and important problems are found. Themes included are: the prehistory of languages and their common origins; language and evolution; language in time and space (the nature of change inherent in language) grammars and dictionaries (how systematic is language?) and phonetics.

Annual Reviews

Annual Review of Linguistics
Covers significant developments in the field of linguistics, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and their interfaces. Reviews synthesize advances in linguistic theory, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, language change, biology and evolution of language, typology, as well as applications of linguistics in many domains.
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics
Publishes research on key topics in the broad field of applied linguistics. Each annual issue is thematic, providing a variety of perspectives on the topic through research summaries, critical overviews, position papers and empirical studies.

Encyclopedias & Handbooks

The selection of books below are all available as ebooks. For reference works on methodology, please see the Primary Resources tab.

Oxford Handbooks Online: Linguistics
Scholarly research reviews of topics, issues, and people in the field of linguistics.
The Handbook of Linguistics (2017)
Provides an overview of the field of linguistics, including psycholinguistics, linguistic anthropology and ethnolinguistics, sociolinguistic theory, language variation and second language pedagogy.
The Routledge Handbook of Linguistics (2016)
Offers an introduction and reference point to the discipline of linguistics. This survey of the field brings together a range of perspectives, covering key areas of linguistics and drawing on interdisciplinary research in subjects such as anthropology, psychology and sociology.
Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia (2010)
Covers all major and subsidiary areas of linguistics and applied linguistics.
The Mouton Atlas of Languages and Cultures (2019)
This atlas covers a substantial part of the Eurasian continent and helps us to understand the impact of culture and cultural changes on language diversity and linguistic developments. A range of interdisciplinary issues, from database encoding conventions to etymologies and cultural anthropology, are discussed. It presents typological and lexical data of more than 200 ancient and modern languages. It includes classic maps, as well as visualizations, such as polygons and network diagrams, which help illustrate complex linguistic patterns of borrowability, co-lexification and semantic evolution.
The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (2020)
Provides an overview of the issues and research approaches in the field of applied linguistics.
The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics (2013)
Ebook and print. Entries cover the history of linguistics from ancient origins to the present. Scholars exam every aspect of the field from language origins to neurolinguistics, review the linguistic traditions in different parts of the world, examine how work in linguistics has influenced other fields, and look at how it has been practically applied. This title is included in Oxford Handbooks Online: Linguistics but here can be search separately.

Dictionaries

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics (2014)
Ebook. Provides definitions of linguistic terms and when needed, includes examples, and diagrams.

Oxford Dictionary of English This link opens in a new window
This dictionary focuses on English as it is used today, informed by evidence and research from the Oxford English Corpus. It places the central and most frequent meanings of each word first, followed by secondary and technical senses, slang, idioms, and historical and archaic senses.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
This dictionary is regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. It provides the meaning, history, and pronunciation of hundreds of thousands of words, past and present, from across the English-speaking world. It traces words through quotations, classic literature, specialist periodicals, film scripts, and cookery books.
Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries Online This link opens in a new window
These dictionaries reconstruct the lexicon for the most important languages and language branches of Indo-European. Dictionaries can be cross-searched and each entry is accompanied by grammatical info, meaning(s), etymological commentary, reconstructions, cognates and often extensive bibliographical information. This database includes the Etymological Dictionaries of: Armenian Inherited Lexicon; Baltic Inherited Lexicon; Proto-Celtic; Old Frisian; Proto-Germanic; Greek; Hittite Inherited Lexicon; Iranian Verb; Latin; Slavic Inherited Lexicon; and Tocharian B.

To Explore

Ethnologue: Languages of the World
Ethnologue: Languages of the World contains data for finding, reading about, and researching all 7,097 known living languages in the world.
Endangered Languages Project
This project serves as an online resource for samples and research on endangered languages as well as a forum for advice and best practices for those working to strengthen linguistic diversity.