Reference Sources
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The Oxford Handbook of African Languages
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This book provides a comprehensive overview of current research in African languages, drawing on insights from anthropological linguistics, typology, historical and comparative linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Africa is believed to host at least one third of the world's languages, usuallyclassified into four phyla - Niger-Congo, Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Khoisan - which are then subdivided into further families and subgroupings. This volume explores all aspects of research in the field, beginning with chapters that cover the major domains of grammar and comparative approaches.Later parts provide overviews of the phyla and subfamilies, alongside grammatical sketches of eighteen representative African languages of diverse genetic affiliation. The volume additionally explores multiple other topics relating to African languages and linguistics, with a particular focus onextralinguistic issues: language, cognition, and culture, including colour terminology and conversation analysis; language and society, including language contact and endangerment; language and history; and language and orature. This wide-ranging handbook will be a valuable reference for scholarsand students in all areas of African linguistics and anthropology, and for anyone interested in descriptive, documentary, typological, and comparative linguistics.
Location: Online resourceISBN: 9780199609895Publication Date: 2020-05-12 -
The Palgrave Handbook of Languages and Conflict
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This Handbook maps the contours of an exciting and burgeoning interdisciplinary field concerned with the role of language and languages in situations of conflict. It explores conceptual approaches, sources of information that are available, and the institutions and actors that mediate language encounters. It examines case studies of the role that languages have played in specific conflicts, from colonial times through to the Middle East and Africa today. The contributors provide vibrant evidence to challenge the monolingual assumptions that have affected traditional views of war and conflict. They show that languages are woven into every aspect of the making of war and peace, and demonstrate how language shapes public policy and military strategy, setting frameworks and expectations. The Handbook's 22 chapters powerfully illustrate how the encounter between languages is integral to almost all conflicts, to every phase of military operations and to the lived experiences of those on the ground, who meet, work and fight with speakers of other languages. This comprehensive work will appeal to scholars from across the disciplines of linguistics, translation studies, history, and international relations; and provide fresh insights for a broad range of practitioners interested in understanding the role and implications of foreign languages in war.
Location: Online resourceISBN: 9783030048242Publication Date: 2019-02-28 -
Encyclopedia of African History and Culture
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Location: DT 3 .P27 2001ISBN: 0816044724Publication Date: 2001-10-01 -
Encyclopedia of African Peoples
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Location: DT 15 E53 2000ISBN: 0816040990Publication Date: 2000-01-01 -
International Encyclopedia of Linguistics
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Location: Mugar Memorial Library Reference X (P29 .I58 2003)Publication Date: 2003The goal of this source is to present articles on the full range of linguistic disciplines (applied, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, etc.) and their inter-relationships, as well as their intersections with other disciplines. -
Sociolinguistique du contact : dictionnaire des termes et concepts
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Objet de recherche récent dans le domaine de la linguistique, la sociolinguistique des langues en contact constitue désormais un champ multidisciplinaire à part entière, ouvert aux aspects sociaux, psychologiques et linguistiques des situations de contact. Trois courants majeurs ont émergé : un courant à dominante structurale / générativiste à ambition universaliste ; un courant à dominante interactionnelle ; enfin, un courant à dominante sociopolitique. Toute tentative s’est jusque-là montrée vaine pour œuvrer à un consensus – ne serait-ce que terminologique – ou a fortiori pour aboutir à une théorie unifiée. C’est pourquoi il nous a semblé que le moment venait d’offrir à un public francophone un état de l’art dans un domaine des sciences du langage qui connaît un foisonnement de travaux, dont certains, jugés majeurs, sont dispersés dans l’espace et dans le temps. Cet ouvrage, qui se présente sous la forme d’un dictionnaire composé de quinze entrées, offre une synthèse inédite de ces travaux. Grâce à un examen approfondi de ces thématiques articulées en un tout cohérent, il constitue un puissant analyseur des mutations sociétales mondiales, celles-ci étant en rapport direct avec les pratiques sociolangagières.
Location: Online resourceISBN: 9782847886023Publication Date: 2013 -
Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics
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These 4 volumes contain articles on central linguistic themes, their related concepts and relationships with other disciplines. They intend to be authoritative, comprehensive and international in scope, while appealing to an academic audience. There is an alphabetic list of the articles; the longer entries are signed and followed by bibliographies.
Location: Mugar Memorial Library Reference X (P29 .E48 2006 )Publication Date: 2005 -
Key Ideas in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language
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This book offers introductory entries on 80 ideas that have shaped the study of language up to the present day. Entries are written by experts in the fields of linguistics and the philosophy of language to reflect the full range of approaches and modes of thought. Each entry includes a brief description of the idea, an account of its development, and its impact on the field of language study. The book is written in an accessible style with clear descriptions of technical terms, guides to further reading, and extensive cross-referencing between entries. A useful additional feature of this book is that it is cross-referenced throughout with Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language (Edinburgh, 2005), revealing significant connections and continuities in the two related disciplines. Ideas covered range from Sense Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Logic, through Generative Semantics, Cognitivism, and Conversation Analysis, to Political Correctness, Deconstruction, and Corpora.Features:* The only single-volume reference book to focus specifically on ideas from both linguistics and the philosophy of language* Accessibly written for use at all levels, including undergraduate, postgraduate, academic, and other general readers in the fields of linguistics and the philosophy of language* Extensively cross-referenced both within itself and with Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language to provide a unique reference resource.
Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2009
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The World Atlas of Language Structures
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The World Atlas of Language Structures is a book and CD combination displaying the structural properties of the world's languages. 142 world maps and numerous regional maps - all in colour - display the geographical distribution of features of pronunciation and grammar, such as number ofvowels, tone systems, gender, plurals, tense, word order, and body part terminology. Each world map shows an average of 400 languages and is accompanied by a fully referenced description of the structural feature in question. The CD provides an interactive electronic version of the database which allows the reader to zoom in on or customize the maps, to display bibliographical sources, and to establish correlations between features. The book and the CD together provide an indispensable source of information for linguistsand others seeking to understand human languages. The Atlas will be especially valuable for linguistic typologists, grammatical theorists, historical and comparative linguists, and for those studying a region such as Africa, Southeast Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe. It will also interest anthropologists and geographers. More than fiftyauthors from many different countries have collaborated to produce a work that sets new standards in comparative linguistics. No institution involved in language research can afford to be without it.
Location: Mugar Memorial Library Reference X (P143 .W67 2005 )Publication Date: 2005 -
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The New Atlas of African History
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Location: G 2446 .S1F73 1991ISBN: 0136121519Publication Date: 1991-09-01 -
Language Map of Africa and Adjacent Islands.
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Location: G8200.E3 1977 .D25ISBN: 0853020620Publication Date: 1977
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Outline of World Cultures
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Location: Z5111 .M87 1983ISBN: 0875366647Publication Date: 1983-04-01 -
Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) byLocation: Web Resource - LibGuide
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Guide to cross-cultural research using the HRAF archive
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Location: Z5111 .E42 1988Publication Date: 1988 -
Instructor's and librarian's guide to the HRAF archive
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Location: Z5111 .L48 1988Publication Date: 1988
Beginning Your Research
Helpful Hints
- Select a topic that interests you.
- Start from what you know: your class reading and lectures, what you’ve read in the media or heard in other classes.
- Do some preliminary research on your topic to determine if you can find enough information. Not too broad, but not too narrow! It’s good to check your topic before it’s too late to change.
- Familiarize yourself with the context around the topic. Whether you are researching a particular woman in African history or a particular topic, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the African countries you are looking at.
- Resources may exist in the language of the colonial government and may dictate how names are written. For example, Njinga could be written as “Nzingha” or “Nzinga”.
Arm yourself with as much information as possible and all possible variations of a name as you conduct your research:
It is critical in the number of results you retrieve when using the library catalog, electronic databases, and the internet.
- Identify authors who are specialists in the field, search for other works they have written.
- Whom do those authors cite? Check the bibliographies of books on your topic in order to find additional resources.
- If the topic is extremely specific, for example, you want to find rites & traditions performed by the Masai when a child is born, try looking at a more general book such as an ethnography of the people. Search chapter headings and indexes for the information you need.
