In this box, and the box, below are some useful sources to use to obtain background material for your modern language research.
Languages Chapters in the Gale Virtual Reference Library These links are the result of a keyword search for "languages" in the Gale Virtual Reference Library. In the Search box, you can enter the specific language you are interested in reading about and then click on GO.
Gale World Scholar: Latin American & the Caribbean This multidisciplinary resource includes a comprehensive range of content for the region, providing research across the humanities both for current issues and events in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as for historical perspective back to the colonial period.
Linguistic Atlas of French Polynesia - Atlas linguistique de la Polynésie Française by This is the first linguistic atlas ever produced on the indigenous languages of French Polynesia. By providing each word with its translation in 20 different islands, its more than 2000 maps constitute an important reference for anyone interested in Polynesian languages. The atlas illustrates the linguistic unity and diversity of this immense archipelago, on the eastern wing of the Polynesian world. The two-volume work has been inspired by scientific objectives with dialectological, sociolinguistic, and historical issues in mind. In addition, it is aimed at the populations of French Polynesia, since the subject of the atlas concerns their languages and cultures, some of which are disappearing.
An American Language: The history of Spanish in the US by "This is the most comprehensive book I've ever read about the use of Spanish in the U.S. Incredible research. Read it to understand our country. Spanish is, indeed, an American language."--Jorge Ramos An American Language is a tour de force that revolutionizes our understanding of U.S. history. It reveals the origins of Spanish as a language binding residents of the Southwest to the politics and culture of an expanding nation in the 1840s. As the West increasingly integrated into the United States over the following century, struggles over power, identity, and citizenship transformed the place of the Spanish language in the nation. An American Language is a history that reimagines what it means to be an American--with profound implications for our own time.
The Birth of 20th Century Chinese Literature by 
Sign Language Archaeology by This engrossing study investigates the infancy of American Sign Language (ASL). Authors Ted Supalla and Patricia Clark highlight the major events in ASL history, revealing much of what has not been clearly understood until now. According to tradition, ASL evolved from French Sign Language. The authors analyze the metalinguistic assumptions of these early accounts and also examine in depth a key set of films made by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) between 1910 and 1920. Designed by the NAD to preserve classic ASL, the films feature 15 sign masters, the model signers of that time. In viewing these films, the authors discovered that the sign masters signed differently depending on their age. These variations provide evidence about the word formation process of early ASL, further supported by data collected from dictionaries of the 19th and early 20th centuries. By tracing the writings of selected individuals, this study reconstructs the historical context for early ASL grammar. It describes the language used in each century and how it changed, and focuses on the rediscovery of the literary legacy of the Deaf American voice. Sign Language Archaeology reveals the contrast between folk etymology and scientific etymology and allows readers to see ASL in terms of historical linguistics.
