In This Guide:

Why background?

Background sources (encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc.) provide well established summary and factual information. Useful for:

basic concepts and established viewpoints
historical context and relationships to other topics
specialized terms and definitions
data, facts, formulas

Macchu Picchu

Macchu Picchu, Peru

Spanish Linguistics and Language: Encyclopedias ...

Spanish language dictionaries grammar syntax semantics morphology

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries for Linguistics (general)

Specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries can provide basic background and overviews of topics in languages, linguistics, sociolinguistics and language teaching,

International Encyclopedia of Linguistics
Call Number: Raynor Ref. P29 .I58 2003 v.1 -4

Check MARQCAT record for availability. Covers historical, comparative, formal, mathematical, functional, and philosophical linguistics.
Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (online) by Keith Brown (Editor-In-Chief)
Publication Date: 2006

International resource. Covers fields of: linguistics, anthropology, education, psychology, language acquisition, language pathology, cognitive science, sociology, the law, the media, medicine & computer science. The most authoritative, up-to-date, comprehensive, and international reference source in its field
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics: a Handbook for Language Teaching by Keith Johnson and Helen Johnson (eds.)
Publication Date: 1998
A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics by David Crystal
Call Number: Raynor Reference P 29 .C65 2008

Publication Date: 2008

Check MARQCAT record for availability.
The Handbook of Sociolinguistics (online) by Florian Coulmas (Editor)
Publication Date: 1998

Unlimited user license. Provides an overview of sociolinguistics.
The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics by Rajend Mesthrie (Editor)
Call Number: Memorial Library P40 .C356 2011

Publication Date: 2011

Check MARQCAT record for print availability.
Surveys a range of topics and approaches in the study of language variation and use in society.