English Language: Print & Web Resources

English Language

James Murray at work editing the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, circa 1900. Only the electronic version of the OED continues to be revised: OED Online.

IC Library Print & Multimedia

English Language: History

(Click to run targeted Subject searches in the IC Library catalog)

Indo-European languages
English language--History
English language--Old English, ca. 450-1100 (used for Anglo-Saxon language)
English language--Middle English, 1100-1500
English language--Early modern, 1500-1700
English language--18th century
English language--19th century
English language--20th century

Works on English literature in the Old, Middle, and Early Modern periods often treat language as a primary or secondary topic.

English literature--Old English, ca. 450-1100
English literature--Old English, ca. 450-1100--History and criticism
English literature--Middle English, 1100-1500
English literature--Middle English, 1100-1500--History and criticism
English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700
English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700--History and criticism

English dictionaries and works on etymology or philology mine the history of the language.

English language--Dictionaries
English language--Lexicography
English language--Etymology
English language Morphology
English philology--Study and teaching
English language--Word formation
English language--Foreign elements
English language--Foreign words and phrases--Dictionaries

Works on "Language and languages" have a broader focus than just English, but many of these will discuss English at length.

Language and languages
Language and languages--Origin
Language and languages--Philosophy

English Language: National & Regional

English language--Africa
English language--Australia
English language--Canada
English language--Caribbean Area
English language--Great Britain
English language--India
English language--New Zealand
English language--United States
English language--United States--History
English language--United States--Rhetoric
English language--United States--Slang
English language--Dialects
English language--Dialects--Southern States
English language--Dialects--United States
Americanisms
Americanisms--Dictionaries

English Language: Out Loud

English language--Phonetics
English language--Pronunciation
English language--Intonation
English language--Spoken English
English language--Slang
Oral communication
Oral tradition--United States
Oratory
Public speaking
Speech
Speeches, addresses, etc
Speeches, addresses, etc., American--History and criticism

English Language: Instruction

English language--Study and teaching
English language--Ability testing
English language--Composition and exercises
English language--Computer-assisted instruction
English language--Grammar--Study and teaching
English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers
English teachers--Training of
Language arts
Language arts (Early childhood)
Language arts (Elementary)
Language arts (Secondary)
Academic writing
Academic writing Study and teaching
Report writing
Report writing--Study and teaching
Speech--Study and teaching
Communication--Study and teaching

Not in the IC Library?

WorldCat (via FirstSearch) is a "union catalog" that allows you to search the holdings of over 10,000 libraries from accross the country and around the world: over 41 million items. Check WorldCat to discover what the entire universe of possible resources looks like for your topic.
Note that upon opening any record there will be an "ILL Order" link that gives you direct entry into IC's interlibrary loan form (when you sign in--IC e-mail user name/password--the form will already be populated with both item identification data and your personal contact info).

User Advisory:

At the search interface begain by scrolling down and changing the default "Rank by" setting to "Date"--this will display your retrievals in reverse chronological order with the newest first.
This is such a large database that you should set a "Limit Type" to "Books" or "Visual Materials" or whatever you are specifically interested in finding.
When using a Subject search--advisable in such a large database--choose the looser "Subject" search rather than "Subject Phrase"--which requires an often frustrating exactitude.

Contact Us

Brian Saunders

Humanities Librarian

(607) 274-1198

More of Brian's guides

Web Resources

History of English

Studying the History of English: An excellent gateway site created by Raymond Hickey, Chair of English Linguistics, Essen University, Germany. Use the drop-down menus running along the top for navigation. Also see Hickey's companion site Studying Varieties of English.

History of the English Language: An outstanding site created by English faculty at the University of Toronto.

History of the English Language: HEL: Links collected by Dan Mosser for his History of the English Language course. Also see Dr. Mosser's Evolution of present-Day English.

Words in English: Good collection of English resources from Suzanne Kemmer at Rice University. Use the drop-down menus along the top to navigate, beginning with "History."

Labyrinth Library: Old English Literature: A gateway to Old English and Anglo-Saxon Resources.

Middle English Dictionary: From the University of Michigan--the biggest, one of the best, and all electronically searchable.

Early Modern English: A useful collection of links from Carol Percy at the University of Toronto.

Rhetoic & Composition

Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric: From Gideon Burton at Brigham Young University, this is one of the best collections of Rhetoric resources on the Web.

Bartleby.com Reference Collection: Full text access includes the American Heritage Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, the American Heritage Book of English Usage, The Columbia Guide to Standard English, Fowler's The King's English, and Mencken's The American Language.

International Writing Centers Association: A gateway to writing resources and guides on the Web. See the links under "Resources" and "Links" at the top.

The Writing Studio (Duke University): Click on "Handouts & Resources."

The University of Victoria Writer's Guide: Clear, comprehensive guide to academic writing. Includes a useful section on "Logic."

OWL: Online Writing Lab (Purdue University): Use the "Navigation" menu on the left.

Guide to Grammar & Writing: Writing guides at the sentence, paragraph, and essay levels, with helpful illustrations.

Common Errors in English: Devoted to common mistakes in word usage, especially terms confused with one another. Scroll down the home page for alphabetical index.

Punctuation Made Simple: Clear, concise explanations of the colon, semicolon, comma, dash, and apostrophe.

Reference Resources

Oxford Online Reference

Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online)

Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology

Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language

Oxford Dictionary of Idioms

Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics

Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style

Australian Oxford Dictionary

Canadian Oxford Dictionary

Oxford American Dictionary of Current English

IC Library Print Reference

IC Library Reference works are shelved at the far end of the main floor.

An Encyclopaedia of language

American heritage dictionary of Indo-European roots

Oxford dictionary of English grammar

Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language

Origins of English words : a discursive dictionary of Indo-European roots

Comprehensive etymological dictionary of the English language

Oxford dictionary of English etymology

American Heritage college dictionary

Oxford English dictionary (2nd ed)

A guide to the Oxford English dictionary

Random House unabridged dictionary

New Fowler’s modern English usage

New Oxford American dictionary

Metaphors dictionary

British English for American readers

Dictionary of American regional English

Random House historical dictionary of American slang

Dictionary of slang and unconventional English

Encyclopedia of rhetoric

Encyclopedia of semiotics

Citation Help

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MLA

MLA citation for books: in print, from databases, on the Web
MLA citation for articles: in print, from databases, on the Web.
MLA citation for Web and Multimedia resources, including Web sites, movies, DVDs, CDs, and videos.
MLA in-text (parenthetical) citation (far less satanic than the first three).

English Language: Print & Web Resources