General Language and Linguistics Encyclopedias can provide a brief overview
of the history, usage and grammar of a language:
 |
Compendium
of the World's Languages 2nd ed. 2 vols. P371 .C36 2000 4-10 page entries including and introduction (the language family, history, use and dialects); script (written forms); phonology (sounds); syntax |
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Encyclopedia
of Language and Education 8 vols. P40.8 .E53 1997 Essays covering the international literature and research on all aspects of applied and theoretical aspects of language and education. Each volume is a specific subject with chapters covering a more specific topic detailing its history, contributors, current research, issues and the future direction of research and practice in this area. A cumulative index is found in volume 8. |
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Encyclopedia
of Language and Linguistics 10 vols. P29
.E48 1994 extensive scholarly articles on all topics relating to the study of linguistics including definitions, research, theories, history and features of specific languages, biographies. Each article includes a bibliography. Index and glossary in the final volume. |
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International Encyclopedia of Linguistics 2nd ed. 4 vols.
P29 .I58 2003 957 signed, multi-page entries with bibliography. Subjects reflect the history, theory and direction of the discipline, written in "popular" language rather than scholarly. |
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Facts
about the World's Languages P371 .F33 2001 3-5 page articles give a good history of the language and its development, its written forms and pronunciation, morphology and syntax. Charts and examples are descriptive and useful. Bibliography follows each entry. |
Check the specific language for some examples of
reference materials available at the library:
Chinese French
German Japanese
Portuguese
Spanish
Reference and regular collection books are arranged using the Library of Congress call number (LC) system. Following is a brief list of the LC numbers for language and literature:
| P Philology and linguistics | ||||||
| PA Classical philology | ||||||
| PB Modern European languages | ||||||
| PC Romance languages
| ||||||
| PD Germanic languages | ||||||
| PE English | ||||||
| PG Slavic languages and literature | ||||||
| PH Finno-Ugrian, Basque languages and literatures | ||||||
| PJ Oriental languages and literatures | ||||||
| PK Indo-Iranian | ||||||
| PL Eastern Asia, Africa Oceania languages and
literatures
|
| PM Hyperborean, Indian and Artificial languages | ||||||||
| PN Literature (general) | ||||||||
| PQ Romance literatures
| ||||||||
| PR English literature | ||||||||
| PS American literature | ||||||||
| PT Germanic literatures | ||||||||
| 1-4897 German literature |