Wikipedia:WikiProject English Language

Title page of Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), the first comprehensive lexicon of English

WikiProject English Language

A WikiProject dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of the English language, and to address prescriptivism and other biases in Wikipedia's articles on the subject.

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  • Welcome to the new WikiProject English Language! Harej (talk) 15:21, 3 June 2016 (UTC)
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Major style guides

See Style guide and WP:Identifying and using style guides.

Forthcoming style guides

New and forthcoming style guides, as of March 2016:
  • The Write Style Guide for New Zealanders: A manual for business editing (Write Ltd; e-book ASIN B01BELGYLM; paper version, overpriced, available from Write.co.nz; 2 February 2016) – This short book may be the only NZ-specific style guide
  • Garner's Modern English Usage (4th ed.; Bryan A. Garner; Oxford U. Pr.; ISBN 978-0190491482; 8 April 2016) – Formerly Garner's Modern American Usage, but now expanded and generalized, and revised with modern research. Also supersedes the concise edition, The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style.
  • MLA Handbook (8th ed.; ISBN 978-1603292627; 14 March 2016) – Derived from the MLA Style Manual of 2008, so this will not be a major update, probably mostly about online tools and citations. (This is used more than many people think; this ed. is the Amazon #1 best-seller in "Editing Writing Reference" category, and has been sold out, even against early pre-orders, since the release date, and still is as of early April.)
  • The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation (Bryan A. Garner; Chicago U. Pr.; ISBN 978-0226188850; 27 May 27 2016; @BryanAGarner on Twitter says electronic version will also be out that month, as an app). This is an update to an expansion of the Chicago Manual of Style sections on these topics, also written by Garner. This is the closest thing to a new edition of CMoS we're likely to see until at least 2017, but it will cover almost everything we care about.
  • New Oxford Style Manual (3rd ed.; Oxford U. Pr.; ISBN 978-0198767251; 11 May 2016) – For those who have not caught up on Oxford, this is the combined volume of the current editions of New Hart's Rules and New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, and is a good way to save on the cost (if you already have the 2014 separate editions, you're all set, since they're the same text).
  • Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (2018 ed.; no ISBN issued yet; comes out mid-year as always) – This is released annually.
New and forthcoming usage dictionaries, topical encyclopedias, and special-interest guides:
  • APA College Dictionary of Psychology (2nd ed.; ISBN 978-1433821585; 18 April 2016)
  • Several updated volumes in the Oxford Quick Reference series of topical, encyclopaedic dictionaries (Oxford U. Pr.; despite the cheesy series title, these are 400–900 pp.):
    • Oxford Dictionary of Chemistry (7th ed.; Richard Rennie & Jonathan Law; e-book ASIN B015P7A35O; 28 December 2015; paper ISBN 978-0198722823; 21 March 2016)
    • Oxford Dictionary of Computer Science (7th ed.; Andrew Butterfield, Gerard Ekembe Ngondi, Anne Kerr; e-book ASIN B019GXM8X8; 28 December 2015; paper ISBN 978-0199688975; 1 April 2016; 608 pp.)
    • Oxford Dictionary of Architecture (3rd ed.; James Stevens Curl & Susan Wilson;; e-book ASIN B00YAT9ORW; 26 February 2015; paper ISBN 978-0199674992; 1 April 2016; 896 pp.)
    • Oxford Dictionary of Business and Management (6th ed.; Jonathan Law; e-book ASIN B019WSGCLG; 28 December 2015; paper ISBN 978-0199684984; 18 April 2016)
    • Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (3rd ed.; Simon Blackburn; e-book ASIN B015P7A0MU; 28 January 2016; paper ISBN 978-0198735304; 1 May 2016; 540 pp.)
    • Oxford Dictionary of Marketing (4th ed.; Charles Doyle; ISBN 978-0198736424; 1 July 2016)
    • Oxford Dictionary of Original Shakespearian Pronunciation (1st ed.; David Crystal; ISBN 978-0199668427; 1 June 2016; 780 pp.)
    • Various others were updated 2010–2015; most have titles beginning Oxford Dictionary of ..., though Amazon lists them as A Dictionary of ..., and some are Companion to .... The most obvious ones of project interest are English Grammar; Proverbs, Literary Terms, Reference and Allusion, Journalism, Media and Communication, Synonyms and Antonyms, Linguistics, Word Origins (J. Cresswell; 2nd ed.; 2010; not to be confused with Chantrell's Word Histories below, or English Etymolology by Onlion, Friedrichsen, Burchfield, 1966, or Hoad's Concise edit of the latter in 1993), Companion to Modern Poetry, Concise Companion to English Literature, English Idioms (J. Ayto, 3rd. ed.; 2010), Quotations, Quotations by Subject, Political Quotations, Theatre and Performance, Critical Theory, Modern Slang (2010; J. Ayto & J. Simpson; updates but severely shortens earlier work by Ayto), Foreign Words and Phrases. A few from before 2010 that will age well: Modern Quotations, Literary Quotations, Humorous Quotations, Euphemisms, First Names, Nicknames, English Surnames, Allusions [different authors than Reference and Allusion), Phrase and Fable [Knowles, not Brewer], Idioms (J. Siefring; 2nd ed., 2005; updated the 1999/2001 ed. by J. Speake; not to be confused with Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learners of English by Parkinson & Francis, or the obsolete Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms [Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English, vol. 2] by Cowie, Mackin & McCaig), Ologies and Isms: Word Beginnings and Endings, World Place-Names, Scientific Quotations, Concise Chronology of English Literature, American Political Slang, Word Histories (G. Chantrell; 2004), Slang (2003, co-author in common with Modern Slang; has 3x as many entries as MS], Reverse Dictionary, Catch Phrases, Concise Companion to irish Literature, Dates, Abbreviations [1998], New Words (1993; may be useful for neologism research). There are numerous topical ones for all the major humanities and sciences, and many more obscure ones.
  • (See also the Penguin Dictionary of ... volumes (Penguin Reference series); a few date to 2010–2015, though most are obsolete.)
  • The Christian Writer's Manual of Style (4th ed.; Robert Hudson; HarperCollins; ISBN 978-0310527909; e-book ASIN B01863JKGM; 12 July 2016) – "The standard style guide of the Christian publishing industry ... guidance on style questions related to religious writing" (largely follows Chicago, but has a usage dictionary that is 1/3 of the book).
  • The Routledge Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English (2nd ed.; ISBN 978-1138125667; 8 September 2016; list price US$225; 1232 pp.) – Given the price tag, probably something to get via inter-library loan.
  • Acronyms, Initialisms & Abbreviations Dictionary: A Guide to Acronyms, Abbreviations, Contractions, Alphabetic Symbols, and Similar Condensed Appellations (50th ed.; Gale Research; ISBN 978-1414488776; 4 April 2016; list price US$1784) – This is the huge multi-volume one. Something to look for a in a good library. Editions as recent as the 42nd (2009) can be had for under $100, and 2001 versions for just the shipping cost, and will still be useful.

Online tools

Free online dictionaries (many should be cited as the underlying source, with |via= giving the website presenting their database, per WP:SAYWHEREYOUGOTIT):

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{{User WP English Language}} linked pages
{{User English grammar}}
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