The Setsuyō-shū or Setchō-shū (節用集, "Economical Collection" or "Collection [of words] for Everyday Use") was a popular Muromachi period Japanese dictionary collated in iroha order and subdivided into semantic categories. The title word setsuyō means "reduce usage; economize" and alludes to the Lunyu (compare the Kagakushū ). "Confucius said: 'If you would govern a state of a thousand chariots (a small-to-middle-size state), you must pay strict attention to business, be true to your word, be economical in expenditure and love the people'. [1]
The origins of the Setsuyōshū are unclear. The oldest extant edition is dated 1496 CE, and the text was probably compiled shortly before the Bunmei era (1469–1487 CE). Despite much speculation about the dictionary's anonymous author, Bailey concludes "a nameless fifteenth-century Zen priest is the likeliest candidate". [2]
Unlike many early Japanese dictionaries of Chinese characters that were intended for literati, the Setsuyōshū was a true Japanese language dictionary and entered vocabulary current in Muromachi times. Each main entry gives the word in kanji (Chinese characters), notes Japanese pronunciation in katakana on the right, and occasionally adds etymologies and comments on the bottom.
There are numerous Setsuyōshū editions (over 180 from the Edo period) and many vary in content and format. Most versions collate words according to their first syllable under 43–47 iroha divisions (bu 部) with 9–16 semantic subdivisions (mon 門), which usually begin with "Heaven and Earth" (Tenchi 天地) and end with "Unclassified words" (Genji 言辞). This arrangement combines both Iroha Jiruishō phonetic ordering and Kagakushū semantic classifications.
The Japanese linguist Hashimoto Shinkichi analyzed differences among early Setsuyōshū editions and found three categories, distinguished by the first word beginning with i- appearing under the first '"Heaven and Earth" heading. The dictionaries' initial word is either Ise (伊勢 "old name for Mie Prefecture"), Indo (印度 "India"), or inui (乾 "northwest"). "Ise editions" have few appendices, put place names near the beginning of subject headings, and are probably the oldest redaction. "Indo editions" have many appendices, including place names, and clearly have been supplemented from the 1444 CE Kagakushū. "Inui editions" are usually printed with movable type, have more entries and corrections, and are the newest version.
Setsuyōshū has a parallel with Webster's informally meaning "English language dictionary". Nakao notes this dictionary "remained popular for so long that the name Setsuyoshu was used as a generic term for Japanese dictionaries (with the entries arranged in the order of iroha)". [3]
Lexicology is the branch of linguistics that analyzes the lexicon of a specific language. A word is the smallest meaningful unit of a language that can stand on its own, and is made up of small components called morphemes and even smaller elements known as phonemes, or distinguishing sounds. Lexicology examines every feature of a word – including formation, spelling, origin, usage, and definition.
The Shuowen Jiezi is a Chinese dictionary compiled by Xu Shen c. 100 CE, during the Eastern Han dynasty. While prefigured by earlier Chinese character reference works like the Erya, the Shuowen Jiezi featured the first comprehensive analysis of characters in terms of their structure, and attempted to provide a rationale for their construction. It was also the first to organize its entries into sections according to shared components called radicals.
Xu Shen was a Chinese calligrapher, philologist, politician, and writer of the Eastern Han dynasty. During his own lifetime, Xu was recognized as a preeminent scholar of the Five Classics. He was the author of Shuowen Jiezi, which was the first comprehensive dictionary of Chinese characters, as well as the first to organize entries by radical. This work continues to provide scholars with information on the development and historical usage of Chinese characters. Xu Shen completed his first draft in 100 CE but, waited until 121 CE before having his son present the work to the Emperor An of Han.
The Erya or Erh-ya is the first surviving Chinese dictionary. The sinologist Bernhard Karlgren concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC."
Japanese dictionaries have a history that began over 1300 years ago when Japanese Buddhist priests, who wanted to understand Chinese sutras, adapted Chinese character dictionaries. Present-day Japanese lexicographers are exploring computerized editing and electronic dictionaries. According to Nakao Keisuke (中尾啓介):
It has often been said that dictionary publishing in Japan is active and prosperous, that Japanese people are well provided for with reference tools, and that lexicography here, in practice as well as in research, has produced a number of valuable reference books together with voluminous academic studies. (1998:35)
The Iroha Jiruishō is a 12th-century Japanese dictionary of Kanji. It was the first Heian Period dictionary to collate characters by pronunciation rather than by logographic radical or word meaning.
There are two types of dictionaries regularly used in the Chinese language: 'character dictionaries' list individual Chinese characters, and 'word dictionaries' list words and phrases. Because tens of thousands of characters have been used in written Chinese, Chinese lexicographers have developed a number of methods to order and sort characters to facilitate more convenient reference.
The 1615 Zìhuì is a Chinese dictionary edited by the Ming Dynasty scholar Mei Yingzuo. It is renowned for introducing two lexicographical innovations that continue to be used in the present day: the 214-radical system for indexing Chinese characters, which replaced the classic Shuowen Jiezi dictionary's 540-radical system, and the radical-and-stroke sorting method.
The Wamyō ruijushō or Wamyō ruijūshō is a 938 CE Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters. The Heian period scholar Minamoto no Shitagō began compilation in 934, at the request of Emperor Daigo's daughter. This Wamyō ruijushō title is abbreviated as Wamyōshō, and has graphic variants of 和名類聚抄 with wa和 "harmony; Japan" for wa倭 "dwarf; Japan" and 倭名類聚鈔 with shō鈔 "copy; summarize" for shō抄 "copy; annotate".
The Shinsen Jikyō is the first Japanese dictionary containing native kun'yomi "Japanese readings" of Chinese characters. The title is also written 新選字鏡 with the graphic variant sen for sen.
The Ruiju myōgishō is a Japanese dictionary from the late Heian Period. The title, sometimes abbreviated as Myōgishō, combines the ruiju from the Wamyō Ruijushō and the myōgi from the Tenrei Banshō Myōgi. Additional Buddhist titles, like Sanbō ruiju myōgishō (三宝類聚名義抄), use the word sanbō because the text was divided into butsu, hō, and sō sections.
The Jikyōshū was a circa 1245 CE Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters. The "Mirror of Characters" title echoes the Shinsen Jikyō, and the internal organization closely follows the Ruiju Myōgishō.
The Kagakushū, alternatively read as Gegakushū, was a 1444 Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters arranged into semantic headings. The title alludes to Confucius' self-description in the Lunyu: 下学而上達 "My studies lie low, and my penetration rises high."
The Wagokuhen or Wagyokuhen was a circa 1489 CE Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters. This early Muromachi period Japanization was based upon the circa 543 CE Chinese Yupian, as available in the 1013 CE Daguang yihui Yupian. The date and compiler of the Wagokuhen are uncertain. Since the oldest extant editions of 1489 and 1491 CE are from the Entoku era, that may approximate the time of original compilation. The title was later written 和玉篇 with the graphic variant wa和 "harmony; Japan" for wa倭 "dwarf; Japan".
The Onkochishinsho was the first Japanese dictionary to collate words in the now standard gojūon order. This Muromachi Period dictionary's title uses a Classical Chinese four-character idiom from the Lunyu: "The Master said, "If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others.".
The Rakuyōshū, rendered on the cover as Racvyoxyv, was a 1598 Japanese dictionary of kanji "Chinese characters" and compounds in three parts. The Jesuit Mission Press published it at Nagasaki along with other early Japanese language reference works, such as the 1603 Nippo Jisho Japanese–Portuguese dictionary. The Rakuyōshū, also known as the Rakuyoshu or Rakuyôshû, is notable as the first dictionary to separate kanji readings between Chinese loanword on and native Japanese kun.
The Yiqiejing yinyi is the oldest surviving Chinese dictionary of technical Buddhist terminology, and the archetype for later Chinese bilingual dictionaries. This specialized glossary was compiled by the Tang dynasty lexicographer and monk Xuanying (玄應), who was a translator for the famous pilgrim and Sanskritist monk Xuanzang. When Xuanying died he had only finished 25 chapters of the dictionary, but in 807 another Tang monk named Huilin (慧琳) compiled an enlarged 100-chapter version bearing the same title.
The Yiqiejing yinyi 一切經音義 "Pronunciation and Meaning in the Complete Buddhist Canon" was compiled by the Tang dynasty lexicographer monk Huilin 慧琳 as an expanded revision of the original Yiqiejing yinyi compiled by Xuanying 玄應. Collectively, Xuanying's 25-chapter and Huilin's 100-chapter versions constitute the oldest surviving Chinese dictionary of Buddhist technical terminology. A recent history of Chinese lexicography call Huilin's Yiqiejing yinyi "a composite collection of all the glossaries of scripture words and expressions compiled in and before the Tang Dynasty" and "the archetype of the Chinese bilingual dictionary".
The ABC Chinese–English Dictionary or ABC Dictionary (1996), compiled under the chief editorship of John DeFrancis, is the first Chinese dictionary to collate entries in single-sort alphabetical order of pinyin romanization, and a landmark in the history of Chinese lexicography. It was also the first publication in the University of Hawaiʻi Press's "ABC" series of Chinese dictionaries. They republished the ABC Chinese–English Dictionary in a pocket edition (1999) and desktop reference edition (2000), as well as the expanded ABC Chinese–English Comprehensive Dictionary (2003), and dual ABC English–Chinese, Chinese–English Dictionary (2010). Furthermore, the ABC Dictionary databases have been developed into computer applications such as Wenlin Software for learning Chinese (1997).
Ogi no Shiori (荻のしをり) is a Japanese dictionary of words for use in renga. It is also known as Shirin Man'yō Ryōzai (詞林万葉良材), Shiori Ogi (しをり荻) and Shirin Kōmoku (詞林綱目). It was compiled by Nakahori Kian by around 1692, when he wrote the preface, and first entered print in 1718. It contains a total of around 3,500 entries, and was well-received due to its ease of use and comprehensiveness.