The Need for an Alphabetically Arranged General Usage Dictionary ...
The Need for an Alphabetically Arranged General Usage Dictionary ...
The Need for an Alphabetically Arranged General Usage Dictionary ...
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Sitzo-Plc~tonic /'upel-s, 1 (February, 1986)expressions in alphabetical order <strong>an</strong>d lacks definitions, it shows veryclearly the feasibility <strong>an</strong>d usefulness of such <strong>an</strong> arr<strong>an</strong>gement. I havelong expressed thc wish that the 1963 word list be converted into<strong>an</strong> actual dictionary. On July 4, 1983, 1 met with ofticials of the,Committee <strong>for</strong> the Re<strong>for</strong>m of the Written L<strong>an</strong>guage in Peking. <strong>The</strong>yin<strong>for</strong>med me that they werc working on <strong>an</strong>other revision of theirword list <strong>an</strong>d that they would consider making <strong>an</strong> alphabetized dic-.*#Itionary bused on it. <strong>The</strong>ir eyes lit up when I told them 1 would gladlypay a small <strong>for</strong>tune <strong>for</strong> such a reference tool. An alphabeticallyordered dictionary would certainly be worth such a sum because ofthe hugc amount of timc it would save in my research. Naturally, 1hope that the Chinese will be able to produce this type of dictionaryat a cost that will make it widely availablc. <strong>The</strong>y are already publishinga respectable encyclopedia with entries given in strict alphabeticalorder. This is the Lui-ge Chirzesa Encyc*lopedia (Chung-kuo tn pai-k'c?ch'ii<strong>an</strong>-sku) which, un<strong>for</strong>tunately, is being issued in the cumbersome<strong>for</strong>mat of topical volumes. <strong>The</strong> adoption of this alphabetical arr<strong>an</strong>gcment<strong>for</strong> the encyclopedia was achieved only after major battleswaged between monosyllabic-minded traditionalists <strong>an</strong>d polysyllabicallyoriented re<strong>for</strong>mers. We are indebted to thc latter <strong>for</strong> theirvision. persistence. <strong>an</strong>d courage.I have also recently discovered that a consortium of researchorg<strong>an</strong>izations in Sh<strong>an</strong>ghai, Ki<strong>an</strong>gsu, Cheki<strong>an</strong>g , Fukien , Anhwei ,<strong>an</strong>d Sh<strong>an</strong>tung is compiling <strong>an</strong> Unabridged Chirtese <strong>Dictionary</strong> (Harzyiita tz'u-tien) to compete with the Sino-Jap<strong>an</strong>ese Dai K<strong>an</strong>-Wu jiten(csti~iiated 500.000 entries) of Morohashi Tetsuji <strong>an</strong>d its Taiw<strong>an</strong>reworking, the Chung-wen ta tz'u-tien. <strong>The</strong> general editor is LuoZhufeng, Vice-Chairm<strong>an</strong> of the Federation of Social Sciences <strong>an</strong>dChairm<strong>an</strong> of the Sh<strong>an</strong>ghai Institute of L<strong>an</strong>guage. He is assisted bysix assist<strong>an</strong>t editors. '<strong>The</strong> ncw nlainl<strong>an</strong>d dictionary will have moreth<strong>an</strong> 300,000 entries <strong>an</strong>d will be published by the Cishu chub<strong>an</strong>sheof Sh<strong>an</strong>ghai. At times. there have been as m<strong>an</strong>y as 500 peopleworking on the project: prescntly several dozen are employed. <strong>The</strong>project was initiated in 1975 <strong>an</strong>d writing commenced during 1979.<strong>The</strong> initial volume. appparently to contain the first few radicals. wasscheduled to be issued in 1985 <strong>an</strong>d subsequent volun~es arc to follow
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