Library Research Guides: ENG 210: History of the English Language: Home

Welcome!

This guide provides some useful starting places and strategies for doing remote research for this course. I'm happy to consult with you on any aspect of your research, from developing a research question to finding, evaluating, and citing sources. Email me or make a calendar Zoom appointment

- Karen Storz, Research & Instruction Librarian

Get Started with SuperSearch

SuperSearch can be a great place to start your search for journal articles, books, films, newspaper & magazine articles, and almost everything else the library has, in one easy to use interface. You can use the filters on the results screen to refine your search and improve your results. For example, try limiting to Full Text Online, and then Book/eBook to see e-books. Or choose Peer-Reviewed Article to find scholarly journal articles, or Encyclopedia Articles & More to find background sources. Click More... to see all content types.

Because SuperSearch contains so much content from so many different kinds of sources, the results can sometimes be overwhelming and hard to focus. At the same time, SuperSearch is also not comprehensive and can miss key sources. To search with more focus, precision, and depth, be sure to use some of the databases recommended on this guide.

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Key Databases

These databases contain a combination of full text (ready to read online) and citation information about articles, book chapters, and books.

Best Bets

MLA International Bibliography
Index to publications on literature, linguistics, film, and folklore, from all cultures, 1963 to present. International in scope, it includes citations to journal articles, books, articles in books, series, translations, scholarly editions, websites, and dissertations.
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)
Index with abstracts to the international literature in linguistics and related disciplines in the language sciences 1973 to present.

Etymologies & Definitions

Oxford English Dictionary
Start here to find the immediate ancestry of an English word, obsolete forms and definitions, and cognate words (particularly in Germanic and elsewhere in Indo-European.) For more complete or accurate reconstructions, further sources should be consulted.
Middle English Dictionary
Vocabulary and usage for the period 1100–1500.
Dictionary of Old English
Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus contains at least one copy of every surviving Old English text, representing over three million words.
Dictionary of Old English: A to I defines the vocabulary of the first six centuries (C.E. 600-1150) of the English language.

Note: Users must create an account to use this free resource. Each user will get 20 free logins every year. See the free access FAQ for more information.

An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
An online version of Bosworth-Toller's work, with a new alphabetical index. From the University of Texas at Austin's Linguistic Research Center.
Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online
Another online version of An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. The dictionary records the state of the English language as it was used between ca. 700-1100 AD by the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of the British Isles.

Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE)
DARE documents the full panoply of American regional words, phrases, and pronunciations. This digital edition of the respected usage dictionary features audio, interactive maps, and insights into the DARE Survey. Widely viewed as the American equivalent of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Additional Databases

Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Bibliographical and multilingual database of Middle Ages and Renaissance materials (400–1700) from more than 500 journals, 1859 to present.
Historical Abstracts with Full Text
Articles on world history from 1450, excluding US & Canada, written since 1955. Can be co-searched with America: History & Life
America: History & Life with Full Text
U.S. and Canadian history and culture articles, prehistory to present, written from 1955 to present.

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Search Tips

use synonyms and truncation to find all the ways your topic is expressed--databases are very literal
combine multiple concepts using AND / OR for best results

sample topic: Chaucer's construction of marriage

(Chaucer OR "Franklin's Tale" OR "Wife of Bath's Tale") - synonymous concepts

AND (marriage OR wyf* OR wife* OR housebonde OR husband OR [other specific examples]) - truncation

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