A contribution towards Finno-Ugric source materials: Where can I find the literature?

(English version of the German "Quellenkunde" page for the students of Finno-Ugric studies at the University of Vienna; English translation courtesy of Andrew Malcovsky)

Finno-Ugric linguistics has existed as an established field for more than a hundred years. Many of the classic sources are still indispensable, but the volume of research (when compared to the ÒgreatÓ languages of European philology) is still rather small, and the researchers are scattered in many countries and institutions. This means that:

Most on-line Finno-Ugric corpora and reference works are accessible only to registered users (or to users of university libraries). The important exceptions:

One can find Finno-Ugric linguistic literature with the help of

Bibliographies

Bibliographie der uralischen Sprachwissenschaft 1830-1970 was published in three volumes from 1976-1986. (I: Ugric, 2: Finnic-Permian/Ob-Ugric/Samoyedic, 3: Index of Authors).

Bibliographia Studiorum Uralicorum 1917–1987, The result of an international bibliographic project, published 1989–1993 in four large volumes (Archaeology, Ethnography and Folklore, Linguistics, Literatures). The linguistic portion of this project continues to appear within the framework of the URBIS databank: Urbis is now hosted by the Tartu University Library (English-language entrance page here) and presently contains over 7,000 published articles and monographs from 1998–2000.

A regular bibliography was published in Soviet Estonia under the title of Bibliographia Uralica on Soviet Uralic studies. A general index from 1918-1985 was published in 1988-1989.

Bibliographic Catalogs and Databases

In the University of Vienna's OPAC there are (mostly) works which are available either there or elsewhere in the Vienna University Library system. In looking for sources one can also search other electronic library records, not simply for titles which can be ordered from Inter-Library Loan but also since:

The most important bibliographic catalogs for Finno-Ugric purposes are:

Handbooks

A few examples of important Finno-Ugric handbooks with extensive bibliographies (on specific topics, e.g. “history of Khanty vowels” or “The Partitive in Finnic ”) are

Series and Periodicals

Unfortunately, the most important series are only rarely found online – or access is limited to the most recent years, or the publications are accessible only to users in the proper environments (for example many of the Finnish linguistic journals are accessible through the Elektra Interface but only through Finnish university networks). However, many have tables of contents online, some even in databases with the ability to search for keywords.

For many important periodicals, general catalogs have appeared in print, often with thematic indexes and glossaries.

NB: Periodicals contain not only articles, but also important information on important monographs, such as reviews.

Some important periodicals and series are:

Institutional Catalogs and Databases

Sometimes it is worth being able to search for names. (X. Y. is supposed to be an expert in this field, but what has she published and where?). Additionally, personal homepages hosted by a university often contain peer or publications databases, such as JULKI at the University of Helsinki oder the publications database of associates of the University of Tartu. . A single institution even has a thematic online bibliography, the Finnish as a Foreign Language Bibliography in Jyväskylä.

It can also be a good idea to search other institutions' homepages for relevant course syllabi or directories of examination materials.

Some universities maintain local bibliographies of MA and PhD theses or thematic bibliographies, such as the Finnish department in Jyväskylä. There is a central database of all Fennistics theses and dissertations in Helsinki, where the student union of OSMA manages an index of theses in preparation.

 

Updated 28 June 2008

johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at