French

French has many different sub-fields that can be located under set Library of Congress Subject Headings in our collection. You can also use these sub-fields as topics for subject searches in our on-line catalog.

French Print Resources

Dictionaries

Dictionnaire Alphabetique et Analogique de la Langue Francaise. - This dictionary is a six volume set that covers the terms of the French language in detail. It includes a bibliography in volume one and is written completely in French.[REF PC2625.R552]

Dictionnaire Des Difficultes Du Francais. - The Dictionary of the Difficulties of French answers many of the questions posed by users of the French language. Systematic headings classify the difficulties (kind, orthography, employment...) in order to solve them in the most effective way. A table of the conjugations and an invaluable typographical guide supplement work to make this reference work an essential tool.[REF PC2630.C65 1993]

Dictionnaire Litteraire des Femmes de Langue Francaise. - This is a reference book detailing female writers in the French literature. It is a single volume containing short biographical sketches completely in French.[REF PQ149.M35 1996]

Dictionary of Modern French Literature. - The nearly three hundred entries in this Dictionary and the bibliographical information following them aim to provide both the literature student and the reference librarian an introducation to the major writer, works, and literature movements that flourished during the 180 years from the dawn of the eighteenth-century French literature through the age of realism, as well as a starting point for further research.[REF PQ41.D65 1986]

Grand Dictionnaire Francais-Anglais, Anglais-Francais. - This top-of-the line advanced dictionary has been specially developed to become the dictionary of first resort for students, teachers, and serious general users, offering detailed and up-to-date coverage of both languages.[REF PC2640.G68 1993]

Guide to French Literature: Beginnings to 1789. - This reference book discusses the important authors and poets of early French literature. The majority of the monograph is written in English with excerpts from of the various French author's works in their native language[REF PQ41.L49 1994]

The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French. - Rabelais and Montaigne, Moliere and Racine, Stendhal and Proust - the literature of France boasts a long and glorious tradition. In The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French, readers will have at their fingertips a trusted guide to this rich literary heritage. Written by an international team of experts, the Companion's 3,000 entries capture ten centuries of work produced in France and, more recently, in other French-speaking countries around the world.[REF PQ41.N48 1995]

Random House French-English, English-French dictionary. - This reference book has more than 60,000 entries, including the most common meanings and many idiomatic expressions in both English and French. It is divided into two sections, French-English and English-French. All entries are from A to Z, in a single alphabetical listing with American English spellings and vocabulary. Also hundreds of new words, including byte, informatique, eurodollar, and videodisque have been added.[REF PC2640.R285 1997]

Encyclopedias

Le Petit Larousse. - This is a single volume general encyclopedia completely in French. It is a great reference resource for students needing information people, places, and items explained in the French language. The volume is partially illustrated and has a time line in the back of the book.[REF AG25.L25 1997]

Journals

The French Review. - This journal publishes articles and reviews on French and francophone literature, cinema, civilization, linguistics, and pedagogy. The periodical is printed both in English and French.[PER PC2001.F75]

French Electronic Resources

Databases

Humanities Full Text - "cites articles from scholarly journals and specialized magazines in the humanities, including archaeology, art, classical studies, communications, dance, film, folklore, gender studies, history, journalism, linguistics, social criticism, music, performing arts, philosophy, religion and theology. It also includes full text/full image articles."

Humanities International Index - "provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracting for over 1,700 journals . . . [including] a multitude of international journals, [plus] books and reference works. . . as well as original creative works including poems, fiction, photographs, paintings and illustrations."

JSTOR - "is a full image database of back issues of scholarly journals in African American studies, anthropology, Asian studies, botany, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology, and statistics."

MLA Bibliography" - "indexes critical scholarship on literature, language, linguistics and folklore."

Project MUSE - "provides online full-text access to over 300 peer-reviewed humanities and social sciences journal titles."

Websites

Ethnologue. Languages of the World: Languages of France - Links to a language map and information on the living and extinct languages of France.

Gallica - "is a digital library of French and Francophone culture maintained by the BibliothPque nationale de France. Contains numerous electronic texts, images, maps, animation, and sound files of French and other publications in history, literature, science, philosophy, law, economics, and political science. Includes full-text materials, some searchable. In French."

Institut de Linguistique Francaise (ILF) - French Institute of Linguistic Study. ILF's main objective is to define guidelines and maintain research support for the French language and research projects in French linguisitics. Links to 11 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) laboratories, resources and databases, and conferences and news in French linguistics. In French and English.

Livres et Litteture/Books and Literature Portal - From the Ministry of Culture and Communication Includes links to all aspects of French literary and publishing industries, from antiquarian dealers, history of the book, publishing directories, book prizes, electronic texts.

Omniglot -- French language, alphabet, and pronunciation - For many languages worldwide, this web site provides historical background, the alphabet, and links to related sites.

University of Chicago. The ARTFL Project - The Project for American and French Research and the Treasury of the French Language (ARTFL) is a cooperative project of Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Francaise (ATILF), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and the Division of the Humanities, the Division of the Social Sciences and Electronic Text Services (ETS), University of Chicago. ARTFL is a corpus of texts, ranging from classic works of French literature to various kinds of non-fiction prose and technical writing. The 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries are about equally represented, with a smaller selection of 17th century texts as well as some medieval and Renaissance texts. A Provencal database includes texts in their original spellings. Genres include novels, verse, theater, journalism, essays, correspondence, and treatises. Subjects include literary criticism, biology, history, economics, and philosophy. In most cases standard scholarly editions were used to convert the text into machine-readable form, and the data contain page references to these editions.