Literatures in English: A Research Guide
A guide to print and digital resources for research in English language literatures
Language Dictionaries (Online)
- Oxford English DictionaryBased on the second edition of the printed work and its three volume Additions series, and also incorporating new material and revisions. Allows searching of the entire text of the dictionary--that is, one can search not merely for "head words" (the words being defined), but also for words used in definitions, etymologies, and illustrative quotations. One can also search by the author of quotations (more than 29,000 Shakespeare quotations!), and search for full phrases. See also the print
- Middle English CompendiumThis invaluable resource for medievalists includes four parts: the Middle English Dictionary; a HyperBibliography of Middle English which includes all the works which are cited in the Middle English Dictionary--probably the most comprehensive single list of ME materials at present available in electronic form; A Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse, a collection of about 146 texts; Related Resources, containing links to "digitized manuscripts containing Middle English" and online catalogs of manuscripts.
- Online Etymology DictionaryCompiled from an extensive list of identified sources, the dictionary can be searched or browsed alphabetically. A list of the abbreviations used in the dictionary is included on the main page, and a search engine for the site is provided.
- New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional EnglishBy Eric Partridge, one of the great lexicographers.
- Urban DictionaryA crowd sourced online dictionary of slang. Not at all scholarly, but useful for keeping up with the most current slang, particularly sexual slang and insults.
Language Dictionaries (Print)
- Dictionary of American Regional EnglishFour volumes so far of a major set exploring local variations in American English. Essential for Americanists.
- Dictionary of the English languageSamuel Johnson's magnificent dictionary is still an important and delightful source. Note that the Bloustein Dictionary Collection (housed in Special Collections) includes a first edition and several other early editions of Johnson--plus numerous other early dictionaries, including Noah Webster's.
- Gutter life and language in the early "street" literature of England : a glossary of terms and topics, chiefly of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuriesFocuses on the 16th and 17th centuries. A fascinating exploration of sexual and scatological abuse in the language of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
- Middle-English dictionary : containing words used by English writers from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuryA one-volume concise dictionary
- Oxford dictionary of English etymologyOne of several good etymological dictionaries.
Critical & Literary Term Dictionaries
- New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and PoeticsPart of the Literature Online database, the Encyclopedia is a comprehensive reference work dealing with all aspects of its subject: history, types, movements, prosody, and critical terminology.
- Continuum Encyclopedia of Modern Criticism and TheorySubstantial articles on major critics, theorists, and schools, with bibliographies.
- Critical Terms for Literary StudyThis volume, co-edited by Frank Lentricchia, features substantive essays on 28 key concepts, by major critics.
- Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary TheoryValuable for its coverage of theory.
- Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches, Scholars, TermsArticles on critical schools/approaches, major critics or theorists, and key concepts.
- Encyclopedia of Literature and CriticismSubstantial essays on literary genres and periods, and on critical approaches like Deconstruction and Feminism.
- Encyclopedia of RhetoricSubstantial articles with bibliographies.
- Glossary of Literary TermsThe 8th edition of a classic.
- Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism2nd edition. Substantial articles on theories, movements, and individual critics and theorists
- Routledge Dictionary of Literary TermsSubstantial articles on key terms.