SOAN 361: Language and Culture

The research need for this course is to find a combination of a text in a language that you don't know and a grammar and/or dictionary for that language. What follows are tips for finding such a language reference tool. The library may not have a paper version of such tools for the language you have chosen. If electronic versions of tools can not be found and the library does not have print versions the library may be able to borrow from another library or purchase the items needed. Students are encouraged to consult with a reference librarian as part of the search process and to get the library to purchase to needed tools.

The process of selecting a language, a text in the language and the reference tools is an interrelated process. You must start by picking a language, then find the reference tools and the text. If the reference tool search is unsuccessful then it will be necessary to shift languages. Once you have the language and the reference tools selected then you will need to find the text.

The research process has two parts.

Finding the grammar an/or dictionary.

  1. For a modern language --French, Greek, Japanese, etc. – we probably have the dictionary.  You can find it by searching the catalog.  Select Subject Keyword and type the works <name of language> dictionaries. (e.g., French dictionaries). Don’t do a phrase search. The same works for grammar (e.g., French grammar).  You will no doubt have to select which is useful from among several to many titles that appear.  Some will be in Reference and they don’t circulate.  Others are in the regular stacks.
  2. The list of languages given to me by Deborah is as follows.  I have marked (*) the ones that are likely to present problems.  That doesn’t mean that some of the others won’t be difficult, rather the starred ones are most likely to require interlibrary loan or a purchase for the dictionary and/or grammar. (Therefore it is important to do your research early so material can be ordered.)  I have added comments (in bold) on finding a grammar and/or dictionary.
  • *Catale (there's an accent over that final e.  It's a variation on Catalon which, as you probably know, is closely related to Spanish)
    Not showing in library catalog or WorldCat under “catale.”
    catalán The language of Catalonia. Like Castilian, Catalan is a Romance language. Variants of it include mallorquín of the Balearic Islands and valenciano spoken in the autonomous region of Valencia. Banned under Franco, Catalan has enjoyed a revival since Spain's return to democracy and now has around 11 million speakers. It is the medium of instruction in schools and universities and its use is widespread in business, the arts, and the media. Many books are published in Catalan. See also lenguas cooficiales. (The Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary. Ed. Nicholas Rollin. Oxford University Press, 1998. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Earlham College.  23 January 2005  (http://www.earlham.edu/library/content/resources/encyclopedias.html)
  • Russian
  • Finnish
  • *Quecha –Use adjectival form –Quechuan–
  • *Turkish – Search WorldCat
  • *Czech – Search Czechoslovakian in WorldCat
  • *Mayan – Few items in Earlham library.  Material in WorldCat.
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • *Papiamentu  (Kathy Taylor will, of course, be a key resource on this one) – Earlham library has dictionary
  • Greek
  • *Mongolian or similar Central Asian language –Have Mongolian dictionary in Reference; grammars listed in WorldCat
  • *Icelandic – Search WorldCat
  • *Ainu  (indigenous people of Japan) – Search WorldCat
  • *Mixteco –Use Mixtec to search.  There is dictionary in WorldCat.
  • Arabic  (by the way--visiting Arabic instructor Khulood Kittaneh is auditing the class, so she can help out with that one!)
  • *Javanese  (Marc Benamou has some materials on this) - There is dictionary in WorldCat.
  • Hindi – Dictionary in Reference; grammar in stacks
  • Dutch
  • *Cakchiquel (I've never heard of this--the student spelled it for me and
                told me it's a dialect of Quiche)
  • Mayan  Family of languages spoken on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and in Guatemala and part of Belize by the Maya. There are several dozen of these languages, the most important being Yucatec (in Mexico), and Quiché, Cakchiquel, Mam, and Kekchi (in Guatemala).( World Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Earlham College.  23 January 2005 (http://www.earlham.edu/library/content/resources/encyclopedias.html)

These are the published dictionaries I can find.  Check WorldCat to obtain via ILL.

  • C. Saenz de Santa Maria, l94O, Diccionario Cakchiquel-Español.
  • R. Blair et al.  l981, Diccionario Español-Cakchiquel-Ingles PCM\Déborah Ruyán
  • Canú, Jo Ann Munson L. and Rafael Coyote Tum.  1991.
    Diccionario Cakchiquel Central y Español.  Guatemala: S.I.L. 
  • N. Cojti Macario, M. Chacach Cutzal, & M. Armando Cali.  1998. 
  • *Kiswahili - another term for Swahili (the language). (The Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Earlham College.  24 January 2005   <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e30587>       See library catalog under Swahili for both dictionary and grammar.
  • *any Australian Aboriginal language – See The Oxford Companion to Australian History for background on Australian Aboriginal languages: http://www.earlham.edu/library/content/resources/encyclopedias.html
  • See WorldCat for grammars and dictionaries.
    Korean
    Chinese
    *Haitian Creole –Search Creole Haiti dictionaries
    *any language of an indigenous group in Chile -
    South American languages.  The indigenous languages of effectively three main regions. Those surviving in the south of the continent (roughly present-day Chile and Argentina) belong to a few small families: Araucanian, in south-central Chile and a neighbouring part of Argentina, has the largest number of speakers. Those of the central Andes (roughly from southern Colombia to south of Bolivia) include Quechua(n), spread originally under the Incas, and Aymará. Those of the rest of the continent are genetically very diverse, some belonging to small families, others to larger ones distributed at intervals over wide areas. The most important south of the Amazon is Tupi-Guaraní, of which Guaraní is, with Spanish, an official language of Paraguay. Gê, or a hypothetical enlargement ‘Macro-Gê’, is another in the central area of Brazil. To the north and west the most important groupings are Panoan, in the headwaters of the Amazon, Arawakan, Cariban, and Chibchan; the last group extends into the neighbouring part of Central America. (From The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. P. H. Matthews. Oxford University Press, 1997. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Earlham College.  24 January     2005  http://www.earlham.edu/library/content/resources/encyclopedias.html)

Search WorldCat using the same approach used in the libraries’ catalog.  Choose Subject approach to search and then type name of language in first box.  In second box type grammar or dictionary (also set as Subject).

The first is finding the work to be studied, written in the language the student will study. The second step is finding the reference tools needed to study the language.

Finding the work.

  1. Finding the work to be studied in the library.  Assuming you have the title and/or author of the work, search in the library catalog.  If the work is not there in either language (e.g., English, native tongue of author) then please consult with a Reference Librarian.
  2. Assuming you don’t already have a work for study then finding a text is going to be a bit tricky.  What you need to do is find English language works on the region in which the language is used that (1) discuss its culture and literature and (2) contain references to works in the vernacular language.  The best way to do that would be to search the library catalog under the name of the country in which the language is used.  If this doesn't work consult a reference librarian about a possible reference work (e.g., encyclopedia, handbook or bibliography) that might provide a list of works.
  3. If you can find the work in the catalog note that the title is underlined and therefore it is hot liked to all versions of the title.  Click on the title and see if it leads to other versions of the work. Hopefully a version in the other language. If not see #3 below. Sometimes you will find a version that contains both the original language and the English translation.
  4. If you are not finding the work in our catalog you can try WorldCat.  This database contains the holdings of thousands of libraries.  Explore this catalog in the same way you would the libraries’ catalog.  When you find the work you want and the version you want click on the ILL button () to order a copy via interlibrary loan.  If you are having difficulty with WorldCat please contact a reference librarian.

If this doesn't work consult reference librarian.