Notable Chinese dictionaries , past and present, include:
Title | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|
ABC Chinese-English Dictionary | 1996 | First Chinese dictionary collated in single-sort alphabetical order of pinyin, John DeFrancis |
A Chinese-English Dictionary | 1892 | Herbert Allen Giles' bestselling dictionary, 2nd ed. 1912 |
A Dictionary of the Chinese Language | 1815–1823 | First Chinese-English, English-Chinese dictionary, Robert Morrison |
A Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language | 1874 | First Chinese-English dictionary to include regional pronunciations, Samuel Wells Williams |
Cangjiepian | -0220 (Qin) | Small Seal Script orthographic primer, Li Si's language reform |
CEDICT | 1997–present | Paul Denisowski's text file project modeled on Japanese EDICT dictionary |
CFDICT | 2010–present | David Houstin's text file project modeled on English CEDICT dictionary |
Chinese and English Dictionary | 1842 | Walter Henry Medhurst |
Cihai | 1938 ... 2009 (ROC, PRC) | Popular modern general-purpose encyclopedic dictionary, 6 editions |
Ciyuan | 1915...1984 (ROC, PRC) | First major 20th-century encyclopedic dictionary, 3 editions and 3 supplements |
Concise Dictionary of Spoken Chinese | 1947 | Yuen Ren Chao's and Yang Lien-sheng's first Chinese dictionary for spoken language |
Dai Kan-Wa Jiten | 1955–1960, 2000 (Japan) | Tetsuji Morohashi's Chinese-Japanese character dictionary, 50,305 entries |
Erya | -0250 (Warring States) | Oldest extant Chinese dictionary, semantic field collation, one of the Thirteen Classics |
Fangyan | -0015 (Han) | Yang Xiong, first dictionary of Chinese regional varieties |
Le Grand Ricci (or Grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise) | 2001 - DVD 2010 | 7 volume Chinese-French dictionary, 13,500 characters and about 300,000 entries of terms and expressions. |
Ganlu Zishu | 0750 (Tang) | First orthography dictionary of the regular script |
Grammata Serica Recensa | 1957 (Sweden) | Bernhard Karlgren's groundbreaking Old and Middle Chinese-English dictionary |
Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects | 2002 (PRC) | Compendium of dictionaries for 42 local varieties of Chinese |
Guangya | 0230 (Cao Wei) | Zhang Yi's supplement to the Erya |
Guangyun | 1008 (Song) | Rime dictionary expansion of Qieyun , source for reconstruction of Middle Chinese |
Han-Han Dae Sajeon | 2008 (South Korea) | Korean hanja-to-hangul dictionary, 53,667 character entries |
Hanyu Da Cidian | 1986–1993 (PRC) | Highly respected modern word/phase dictionary, diachronically collated, over 23,000 character entries |
Hanyu Da Zidian | 1986–1989, 2010 (PRC) | Highly respected modern character dictionary, 60,370 entries |
Jijiupian | -0040 (Han) | Oldest extant orthographic primer, rhymed lines |
Jingdian Shiwen | 0580 (Tang) | Lu Deming's exegetical dictionary for Chinese classic texts |
Jiyun | 1037 (Song) | Rime dictionary expansion of the Guangyun , 53,525 head characters |
Kangxi Dictionary | 1716 (Qing) | Kangxi era character dictionary, 47,000 entries, see also List of 214 Kangxi radicals |
Leipian | 1066 (Song) | Sima Guang's expansion of the Yupian , 31,319 character entries, 544 radicals |
Longkan Shoujian | 0997 (Liao) | Buddhist dictionary of pronunciations and meanings, 26,000 characters, radical and phonetic indexes |
Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary | 1931 | Robert Henry Mathews, 2nd ed. 1943 |
Menggu Ziyun | 1308 (Yuan) | Only example of 'Phags-pa script-Chinese dictionary, 813 entries |
Pearl in the Palm | 1048 (Western Xia) | First Chinese-Tangut language bilingual dictionary |
Peiwen Yunfu | 1711 (Qing) | Rime dictionary of literary phrases, 10,257 entries arranged by 106 rimes |
Pentaglot Dictionary | 1794 (Qing) | 8,671 Manchu entries translated into Tibetan, Mongolian, Chagatai, and Chinese |
Piya | 1125 (Song) | Erya supplement of plant and animal names |
Qi Lin Bayin | 1650 (Qing) | Rime dictionary of Fuzhou dialect |
Qieyun | 0601 (Sui) | Rime dictionary of Classical Chinese, fanqie pronunciation glosses, 2,158 character entries |
Qiyin lüe | 1161 (Song) | Rime dictionary resembling Yunjing |
Shenglei | 0230 (Cao Wei) | First Chinese rime dictionary, lost work, partially reconstructed |
Shiben | -0250 (Warring States) | First Chinese encyclopedic dictionary of origins |
Shiming | 0200 (Han) | Expansion of Erya , 1,502 entries, linguistically important Han-era pronunciation glosses |
Shizhoupian | -0800 (Zhou) | First recorded Chinese dictionary, Great Seal script, lost work |
Shuowen Jiezi | 0121 (Han) | First character dictionary collated by graphic radicals, 9,353 entries, see also List of 540 Shuowen Jiezi radicals |
Tangyun | 0732 (Tang) | Rime dictionary revision of Qieyun , lost work |
The Five Thousand Dictionary | 1926 (ROC) | Courtenay Hughes Fenn's dictionary of 5,000 commonly used characters |
Xiandai Hanyu Cidian | 1978 ... 2012 (PRC) | Authoritative general-purpose dictionary, 6 editions, 69,000 entries |
Xiao Erya | -0150 (Han) | "Little Erya " supplement, 374 entries |
Xinhua Zidian | 1957...2004 (PRC) | Best-selling Chinese dictionary, world's most popular reference work, 11 editions, 3,300 character entries, 189-radical system |
Yiqiejing Yinyi (Huilin) | 0807 (Tang) | Expansion of Yiqiejing yinyi (Xuanying) , 31,000 word entries, 100 chapters |
Yiqiejing Yinyi (Xuanying) | 0649 (Tang) | Oldest surviving Chinese "pronunciation and meaning" dictionary of Buddhist technical terminology, 25 chapters, archetype for Chinese bilingual dictionaries |
Yunhai jingyuan | 0780 (Tang) | First rime dictionary collated phonetically instead of graphically, lost work |
Yunjing | 1161, 1203 (Song) | Oldest extant rime tables, arranged by four tones of Middle Chinese and 23 types of articulation |
Yupian | 0543 (Liang) | Character dictionary with 12,158 character entries, 542-radical system, fanqie glosses |
Zhengzitong | 1627 (Ming) | Supplement to the Zihui character dictionary, 33,000 entries |
Zhongguo Renming Dacidian | 1921 (ROC) | Leading biographical dictionary in China |
Zhonghua Da Zidian | 1915 (ROC) | Updated expansion of Kangxi Dictionary , 48,000 entries |
Zhonghua Zihai | 1994 (PRC) | Currently the largest character dictionary, 85,568 entries |
Zhongwen Da Cidian | 1962–1968 | Chinese revised version of Japanese Dai Kan-Wa Jiten , 49,905 character entries |
Zhongyuan Yinyun | 1324 (Yuan) | Rime table, 5,866 characters collated by 19 rime groups, important for historical Chinese phonology |
Zihui | 1615 (Ming) | First character dictionary to use the 214-radical system adopted by many later works |
Zilin | 0350 (Jin) | Character dictionary with 12,824 entries, 540-radical system, lost work, partially reconstructed |
Zitong | 1254 (Southern Song) | Dictionary of orthography, compares seal, clerical, and regular script characters |
Ziyuan | 0340 (Eastern Jin) | Character dictionary attributed to Ge Hong, lost work excepting fragments |
The terms foobar, foo, bar, baz, and others are used as metasyntactic variables and placeholder names in computer programming or computer-related documentation. They have been used to name entities such as variables, functions, and commands whose exact identity is unimportant and serve only to demonstrate a concept. The style guide for Google developer documentation recommends against using them as example project names because they are unclear and can cause confusion.
Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters adapted from the Chinese script used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequently-derived syllabic scripts of hiragana and katakana. The characters have Japanese pronunciations; most have two, with one based on the Chinese sound. A few characters were invented in Japan by constructing character components derived from other Chinese characters. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan made its own efforts to simplify the characters, now known as shinjitai, by a process similar to China's simplification efforts, with the intention to increase literacy among the common folk. Since the 1920s, the Japanese government has published character lists periodically to help direct the education of its citizenry through the myriad Chinese characters that exist. There are nearly 3,000 kanji used in Japanese names and in common communication.
Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Chinese characters have a documented history spanning over three millennia, representing one of the four independent inventions of writing accepted by scholars; of these, they comprise the only writing system continuously used since its invention. Over time, the function, style, and means of writing characters have evolved greatly. Informed by a long tradition of lexicography, modern states using Chinese characters have standardised their forms and pronunciations: broadly, simplified characters are used to write Chinese in mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia, while traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
This is a timeline of Chinese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in China and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of China. See also the list of Chinese monarchs, Chinese emperors family tree, dynasties of China and years in China.
A Chinese radical or indexing component is a graphical component of a Chinese character under which the character is traditionally listed in a Chinese dictionary. This component is often a semantic indicator similar to a morpheme, though sometimes it may be a phonetic component or even an artificially extracted portion of the character. In some cases the original semantic or phonological connection has become obscure, owing to changes in character meaning or pronunciation over time.
Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language, with the other being traditional characters. Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
Tahini or tahina is an Arab condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame. It is served by itself or as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush, and halva.
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a country, region, or continent. Content of a gazetteer can include a subject's location, dimensions of peaks and waterways, population, gross domestic product and literacy rate. This information is generally divided into topics with entries listed in alphabetical order.
The Kangxi Dictionary is a Chinese dictionary published in 1716 during the High Qing, considered from the time of its publishing until the early 20th century to be the most authoritative reference for written Chinese characters. Wanting an improvement upon earlier dictionaries, as well as to show his concern for Confucian culture and to foster standardization of the Chinese writing system, its compilation was ordered by the Kangxi Emperor in 1710, from whom the compendium gets its name. The dictionary was the largest of its kind, containing 47,043 character entries. Around 40% of them were graphical variants, while others were dead, archaic, or found only once in the Classical Chinese corpus. In today's vernacular written Chinese, fewer than a quarter of the dictionary's characters are commonly used.
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice or a secretary of justice. In some countries, the head of the department may be called the attorney general, for example in the United States. Monaco is an example of a country that does not have a ministry of justice, but rather a Directorate of Judicial Services that oversees the administration of justice. Vatican City, a country under the sovereignty of the Holy See, also does not possess a ministry of justice. Instead, the Governorate of Vatican City State, the legislative body of the Vatican, includes a legal office.
The 214 Kangxi radicals, also known as Zihui radicals, were collated in the 18th-century Kangxi Dictionary to aid categorization of Chinese characters. They are primarily sorted by stroke count. They are the most popular system of radicals for dictionaries that order characters by radical and stroke count. They are encoded in Unicode alongside other CJK characters, under the block "Kangxi radicals", while graphical variants are included with in the "CJK Radicals Supplement".
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared goals.
Pha̍k-fa-sṳ is an orthography similar to Pe̍h-ōe-jī and used to write Hakka, a variety of Chinese. Hakka is a whole branch of Chinese, and Hakka dialects are not necessarily mutually intelligible with each other, considering the large geographical region. This article discusses a specific variety of Hakka. The orthography was invented by the Presbyterian church in the 19th century. The Hakka New Testament published in 1924 is written in this system.
A Chinese dictionary is a reference work for the Chinese language. There are two main types of Chinese dictionaries: zidian, which list individual Chinese characters and their definitions, and cidian, which list words and short phrases along with their meanings. Because written Chinese consists of tens of thousands of characters, over time editors of Chinese dictionaries have developed a number of ways to organize them for convenient reference.
Presbyterian Mission Agency is the ministry and mission agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Founded as the Western Foreign Missionary Society by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1837, it was involved in sending workers to countries such as China during the late Qing dynasty and to India in the nineteenth century. Also known as the Foreign Missions Board in China, its name was changed by the Old School body during the Old School–New School Controversy to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions.
Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ), also called Zhuyin, occasionally Mandarin Phonetic Symbols, is a Chinese transliteration and writing system for Mandarin Chinese and other related languages and dialects. More commonly used in Taiwanese Mandarin, it may also be used to transcribe other varieties of Chinese, particularly other varieties of Mandarin Chinese dialects, as well as Taiwanese Hokkien. Consisting of 37 characters and five tone marks, it transcribes all possible sounds in Mandarin.
Hokkien is a variety of the Southern Min Chinese languages, native to and originating from the Minnan region, in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is also referred to as Quanzhang, from the first characters of the urban centers of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou.
Radical 162 or radical walk (辵部) meaning "walk" is one of the 20 Kangxi radicals composed of 7 strokes. When used as a component, this radical character transforms into ⻍, ⻌, or ⻎.