Whither Chinese–English lexicography? – From a historical perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lexi.20869Keywords:
bilingual lexicography, Chinese–English lexicography, neologisms, dictionary apps, corporaAbstract
2020 marked the 200th anniversary of the publication of the second part of Robert Morrison’s A Dictionary of the Chinese Language which has been widely recognized as the first Chinese–English (hereinafter abbreviated to C–E) dictionary and signaled the beginning of C–E lexicography. From the late Qing Dynasty to the present, literally several hundred C–E dictionaries, small or large, have been compiled, though the number of noteworthy ones is rather limited. Nevertheless, research into C–E lexicography has gradually developed into a distinct field of study as witnessed by thousands of academic papers and over a dozen books devoted to its research. A search of (Chinese–English dictionary) as the keyword in CNKI, a database of journal articles, theses, and dissertations written in the Chinese language, came up with 8,365 results. Most of the discussions center round topics such as dictionary criticism, history of dictionary-making, theoretical construction, and case studies. The history of bilingual lexicography in China, for instance, was under-researched in the past as a result of the lack of original copies of early dictionaries, which, however, has been improved thanks to the reprinting and wide availability of such dictionaries since the beginning of the 21st century. Chinese Lexicography: A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911 (Heming Yong et al., 2008), for instance, devoted only a few pages to the earliest history of C–E lexicography which spans more than 70 years. But now dozens of academic papers and even several books (e.g. Yang, 2012; Gao, 2014) have been written about the early bilingual dictionary-makers and their lexicographical works, presenting a clear picture of the evolution of C–E lexicography. Today more than two decades into the 21st century, the C–E lexicography scene is not as crowded as its English–Chinese counterpart as there are only a few major players. The paper aims to present a brief history of C–E lexicography with a focus on lexicographical tradition and creativity, elaborate on the deficiencies or problems found within the major C–E dictionaries, and finally discuss the future directions of C–E lexicography.
References
Baller, F. W. (1900). An Analytical Chinese–English Dictionary. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press.
Chang, Tsai Sing. (1911). Chinese–English Dictionary. Shanghai: The Commercial Press.
Ding, Bingfu (2002). A discussion on POS labelling in Chinese–English dictionaries. Lexicographical Studies, 6, 61–67.
Feng, Kejiang (2003). A critique of Chinese–English Dictionary, The Chinese–English Dictionary, and New Age Chinese–English Dictionary. Journal of Anhui University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), (5), 116–120. https://doi.org/10.1163/2352-0280-cedo-all
Gao, Yongwei (2014). A Brief History of Bilingual Lexicography in the Late Qing Dynasty. Shanghai: Shanghai Yiwen Publishing House.
Giles, H. A. (1892). A Chinese–English Dictionary. London: Bernard Quaritch.
Giles, H. A. (1912). A Chinese–English Dictionary, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Shanghai, Hongkong, Singapore, and Yokohama: Kelly and Walsh.
Hui, Yu (2003). New Century Chinese–English Dictionary. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Jiang, Yajun et al. (2004). Some thoughts on the POS labelling in Chinese–English dictionaries. Lexicographical Studies, 2, 54–62.
Li, Anxing (2003). Corpora and the improvement of translations in Chinese–English dictionaries. Lexicographical Studies, 5, 29–38.
Li, Dejun (2006). CpsDict: Bilingual dictionary-making system based on parallel corpus. Modern Foreign Languages, 4, 371–381.
Li, Yuwen (1918). A New Chinese–English Dictionary. Shanghai: The Commercial Press.
Lobscheid, W. (1871). A Chinese and English Dictionary. Hong Kong: Noronha & Sons.
Lu, Feizhi et al. (1930). Chung Hwa Chinese–English Dictionary. Shanghai: Chung Hwa Book Co. Ltd.
Lu, Gusun (2015). The Chinese–English Dictionary (Unabridged). Shanghai: Fudan University Press.
Mathews, R. H. (1931). A Chinese–English Dictionary. Shanghai: China Inland Mission and Presbyterian Mission Press.
Mathews, R. H. (1943). Mathew’s Chinese–English Dictionary, Revised American Edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Medhurst, W. H. (1842–1843). Chinese and English Dictionary; Containing all the Words in the Chinese Imperial Dictionary, Arranged according to the Radicals. Batavia: Printed at Parapattan.
Morrison, R. (1815–1823). A Dictionary of the Chinese Language. Macao: Printed at the Honorable East India Company’s Press.
Pan, Shaozhong (2014). New Age Chinese–English Dictionary, Second Edition. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Qin, Xiaohui (2011). Crowning glory after ten years of hard work—a critique of the third edition of Chinese–English Dictionary. Lexicographical Studies, 6, 125–133.
Stent, G. C. (1871). A Chinese and English Vocabulary in the Pekinese Dialect. Shanghai: The Customs Press.
Tsang, O. Z. Tsang. (1920). Complete Chinese–English Dictionary. Shanghai: The Republican Press.
Wei, Xiangqing et al. (2014). Lexicography in China (1978–2008). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Williams, S. W. (1856). A Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect. Canton: Printed at the Office of the Chinese Repository.
Williams, S. W. (1874). A Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press.
Wu, Guanghua (2010). The Chinese–English Dictionary, Third Edition. Shanghai: Yiwen Publishing House.
Wu, Guanghua (2015). A Chinese–English Dictionary of New Words and Expressions. Shanghai: Yiwen Publishing House.
Wu, Xiaoyu et al. (2012). Parallel corpus and Chinese–English dictionary compilation. Translations, 2, 169–176.
Yang, Huiling (2012). The Tradition of Chinese–English Lexicography in the 19th Century—Genealogical Study of the Dictionaries of Morrison, Williams, and Giles. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Yao, Xiaoping (2010). A Chinese–English Dictionary, Third Edition. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Yong, Heming et al. (2008). Chinese Lexicography: A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zeng, Taiyuan (2005). Corpora and Chinese–English lexicography. Lexicographical Studies, 1, 79–87.
Zhao, Gang (2006). Some thoughts on Chinese–English lexicography. Lexicographical Studies, 1, 94–100.
Zhong, Lanfeng et al. (2012). Corpus-based Chinese–English lexicography: Opportunities, challenges, and counter-measures. Journal of Jiangsu University (Social Sciences Edition), 2, 62–66.
