Questions tagged [resources]

Questions about finding resources for learning or researching the English language.

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119 votes
12 answers
87k views

What good reference works on English are available?

Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic. What good reference works on English are available, and what kinds of questions are they good at answering? General ...
4 votes
1 answer
89 views

What resources do I need to consult before asking a question?

Many Stack Exchange sites require that users do some research before asking a question. Does English Language & Usage have such a policy? If yes, what resources should users consult before asking ...
3 votes
1 answer
76 views

What resources to use for understanding archaic English usage?

I am reading the book "The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood" by James Gleick. Every now and then an old/archaic English sentence, from some reference, is quoted in this text. How ...
4 votes
1 answer
122 views

What is a good source on the use of the definite article for non-native speakers?

Here's my situation: I'm currently proof-reading something a colleague of mine has written. The content is all okay, but his use (or non-use) of "the" is all over the place, because I assume his ...
3 votes
1 answer
104 views

Is there a reference/archive of English verbs and their argument structure (± their theta roles)?

Is there a reference/archive of English verbs and their argument structure? That is to say, how many and what categories of arguments they require. And maybe even their theta roles? I don't expect ...
0 votes
0 answers
33 views

Which books should I refer to in my master's thesis about parallelism? [closed]

What books should I read for my thesis about parallelism in rhetorical devices?
2 votes
4 answers
187 views

Is Merriam Webster dictionary an outdated and unreliable dictionary?

An experienced user posted this comment under an answer that cited M-W dictionary. Btw, MW is the worst, most out-of-date dictionary on the planet!, but GKP regularly sings its virtues in public, and ...
1 vote
2 answers
72 views

What resources/reference can I use when converting sentences from American English to British English?

Which reference document can I consult for converting American sentences into British English? Is there a gold standard resource?
3 votes
2 answers
63 views

Seeking cursive writing samples along with a typed version

I want to find some samples of English cursive writing along with their typed versions. Where can I find this? This is for practice purposes: I want to attempt to read the cursive version and look at ...
1 vote
1 answer
119 views

What differences are between the American Heritage Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language? [closed]

What differences are between these two books: The American Heritage Dictionary The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language ? Are they both for etymology, similarly to Oxford English ...
1 vote
1 answer
50 views

Recommandation for a reliable and comprehensive source on word stress rules in English

I am looking for a reliable and comprehensive enough book or source on word stress rules in English. I have searched the internet and found various interesting web pages, some not comprehensive enough,...
2 votes
1 answer
89 views

Can anyone recommend a book which covers syntax overall?

Just as I said in the title, I'm wondering if there is a good book which covers basic syntax overall. I've been learning English for fairly a long time, so I don't have a lot of problems holding daily ...
6 votes
2 answers
128 views

Where can I find books from the late 17th/early 18th century about English grammar and phonology?

I'm interested in finding books that explain English grammar (as much of it and in as much depth as possible), written by scholars from the late 17th/early 18th century. Which do you recommend? Could ...
3 votes
2 answers
118 views

Need English Grammar Refresher Book, College Level, not ESL text

I am looking for a U.S. college-level English grammar text, one with answers to end-of-chapter exercises. I was born in the U.S. and have only spoken and written in English. I had a good English ...
-1 votes
1 answer
91 views

IELTS test resources [closed]

I want to prepare for the IELTS academic exam, and I am so confused about the best resources. Do you have any suggestion for me? And in your opinion, which is better Collins or Cambridge books for ...
-3 votes
1 answer
127 views

Detecting output of Large Language Models

Are there any linguistic analysis algorithms designed to detect the output of undisclosed computerized large language models (bots) that pops up on question-answer sites, eg Quora? (vs text written by ...
3 votes
3 answers
44 views

What fine-tuned word finders are out there?

I know there's a lot of word finders, but I'm wondering if there is some this fine-tuned. For example, if I want words ending in -ade, but only nouns. accolade, charade, tirade, façade, balustrade... ...
0 votes
0 answers
33 views

In-depth resources for sentence diagramming?

I'm asking this as a programmer in grad school. We've been tasked with developing an agent that can process and understand sentences. While planning out my approach for this assignment, I found myself ...
2 votes
3 answers
77 views

Online resource which tracks new words that are evolved or discussed

My primary question is if there is any resource which keeps a track of words that evolve. Also before the word gets into any publication's dictionary "is there any process that is followed to evaluate ...
2 votes
1 answer
95 views

Is there a some kind of decision tree to detect accent/dialect of British English?

Recently I started to notice how diverse English pronunciation in my YouTube subscribes become and I started wondering is there an easy way to detect which dialect is which since I am no linguist. ...
16 votes
2 answers
2k views

"Lexico" will be gone in less than a month

Not sure what the implications for our site will be, but it seems relevant news that Lexico (formerly "Oxford Living Dictionaries", formerly "Oxford Dictionaries Online") is ...
11 votes
2 answers
241 views

Website to see frequency of use of words together

Once, an English teacher shared with me a website where you can see how certain words are used with others. For instance, you would see the type of words with which "mandatory" and "compulsory" are ...
2 votes
1 answer
39 views

Would a question about a specific English language tool be on topic?

Can language tools (typically, but not exclusively, software tools) be asked about on English SE? I have a question about how I can work out where a term is used. It's along the lines of: A common ...
6 votes
1 answer
85 views

Are there any resources to find which prepositions are appropriate for a given verb/adjective and how they change the meaning?

Sometimes I'm unsure about which prepositions can be used with a verb or adjective and how they change the meaning. Are there any resources to help me with this? A few examples of tricky preposition I'...
2 votes
1 answer
101 views

What dictionaries can help translate the Wycliffe bible?

I am unsure what dictionary nowadays has translations of Middle English. As of my research, the language has changed rapidly in that time as of settlement and like migrations from other countries in ...
3 votes
0 answers
66 views

Book recommendation about languages from the linguist's perspective

Not sure if book recommendations are allowed, but I'm looking for a reference book that contains details about a wide variety of languages, written for linguists. For example, let's say I wanted to ...
0 votes
0 answers
189 views

English Grammar book on 'Voice Change' and 'Narration Change'

I want to know the name of some English Grammar books, in which : (1) The Voice Change (Active to Passive and vice-versa) (2) The Narration Change have been discussed in details with examples.
0 votes
0 answers
22 views

List of English word research tools [duplicate]

I once discovered a post on this site that had a very comprehensive list of English word research tools, but I am having difficulties finding it again. Apologies for a potentially off-topic or ...
0 votes
2 answers
49 views

Website for lexical resources assessment?

Is there any website that assesses how rare or common are the words I used in my essay? Something like this picture below:
8 votes
1 answer
141 views

Resource for grammatical rules pertaining to mid-17th century English

Salutations to all during this tragic time where all feels quite, quite down, Firstly I hope all are well. Now, onward to my question: I have, for the past half-year or so writ a play based in London ...
3 votes
0 answers
86 views

Are there any resources for 18th and 19th Century English Grammar?

I recently asked a question regarding archaic English grammar and one of the comments recommended that I make a resource request here on the Meta. I'm looking for any books or websites that ...
1 vote
1 answer
95 views

What are the free resources to learn english online? [closed]

My wife wants to improve her English. It's a paid site to learn english https://id.engbreaking.com/ I wonder if there is any like that that is free?
3 votes
3 answers
121 views

Resources for finding early uses of words?

I have a strangely deep admiration for archaic language and its usage and find that when working on period-piece writings, sources (catalogs of old books) for researching words used in the period (And ...
3 votes
0 answers
39 views

Criteria specific dictionaries use to decide on ordering of different senses of a given headword

It's fairly common knowledge that OED lists senses of a given headword in the chronological order research has found printed evidence for: it is a historical dictionary. Equally conveniently, the ...
9 votes
2 answers
392 views

Does Lexico have dictionary entries in American English?

My recollection is that the old Oxford Dictionaries site had entries in both American English and "British & World English", which could be accessed through different urls. Lexico has British &...
5 votes
4 answers
110 views

As a single-word enthusiast, what links/blogs should I follow?

I am looking for resources to follow online for language and single-word hobbyists as myself. Do you have any good suggestions? Mailing list subscriptions, twitter feeds, etc?
1 vote
0 answers
96 views

Are requests for analyses restricted to single sources (eg McCawley, CGEL) acceptable on ELU?

Are requests for analyses, interpretations, restricted to single sources (eg McCawley, CGEL) acceptable on ELU? Most of McCawley, and all of Huddleston and Pullum, for instance, are not available to ...
2 votes
1 answer
60 views

For any word, see constituent roots; for any root, see composite words

Definition lookup in Google will show the origin or etymology of a word, usually based on root. Is there an application, web or otherwise, that returns composite words for any given root?
3 votes
0 answers
68 views

Search engine for English idioms?

I am looking for a resources which can provide related English idioms/phrases. For instance, if I were looking up 'to help out', I would find 'to pitch in', etc. Does any such resources exist online (...
0 votes
0 answers
42 views

What is a good resource for how American women talked in the 1940s?

You can find some pretty good diaries for men, from the war. But I'm not sure what a reliable source is for female American vernacular of the '40s. Movies of the time sanitize conversations, and use ...
5 votes
3 answers
113 views

glossary of grammar terminology

I'm looking for a comprehensive reference book that includes definitions and examples of the terms used in grammar analysis. So this would have 'adverb' and 'verb' and their various types, the ...
0 votes
0 answers
26 views

English Morphology

Please refer to me the seminal or the most popular book for practicing Morphological word structures (English) with tree diagrams.
14 votes
1 answer
2k views

RIP Oxford “living” Dictionaries

Don't know when this happened, but Oxford Living Dictionaries is no more. It is now called Lexico (powered by Oxford) whatever that means… Tsk! You'd think they'd have the decency to consult us ...
14 votes
4 answers
296 views

What is the point of migrating all resource requests to Meta?

There are a couple of resource requests that were recently migrated to ELU Meta (e.g Is there an online speech comparison programme, What are some good and authoritative reference/data source for ...
6 votes
3 answers
5k views

Resources on larger common word lists

I'm looking for resources on most common general word lists for English. I'm after lists that are bit large in size - say in the range 10,000-20,000 words. I have found smaller lists such as the ...
1 vote
1 answer
71 views

Where can I find the word link of a word?

With eJoy pages, I can see the word's word link information like this: This info really helped me memorize vocabulary. Do any dictionary sites provide this information?
2 votes
2 answers
656 views

Best book for vocabulary building through etymology

Could you hint the best etymology book? I'd like to learn new words via their origin.
2 votes
1 answer
40 views

Resourses for reviewing writings

I am looking for sites or communities where I can post my writings for reviews free of charge. Is there any?
9 votes
3 answers
389 views

Best online slang dictionary for old slang

I'm looking for slang words that would have been in use around 1910 in New York. Anyone know of an online resource that might work?
2 votes
2 answers
88 views

Finding resources within the site guidelines

I know questions about finding resources are off-topic on the main site, however, this puts users like me in a bind. Frequently, questions are flagged as easily answerable with the right resource (...