Kernerman Dictionary News • Number 14 • July 2005
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PASSWORD Semi-Bilingual English Chinese Dictionary
Our original intent to publish such a dictionary was
inspired by an article written in 2001 by Xu Hai, from the Lexicography
Research Center of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (http://bilex.gdufs.edu.cn), in which he
made a full and detailed exposition of the academic reasoning for the use of
the semi-bilingual dictionary – a novel member in the family of dictionaries.
The ideas conveyed in the article held enormous appeal and we took them very
seriously. In 2002, after meticulous modifications and editing, Xu’s article
was published in Lexicographical Studies (Vol. 2), a journal of the
China Lexicographical Association (reprinted).
This is a unique professional periodical in the field of lexicography in The reasons why we strongly recommend this new type of
dictionary in ·
The
semi-bilingual English-Chinese dictionary can make up for the inadequacy of
general English-Chinese dictionaries by providing the English explanation and
examples of usage of the entry. ·
It
can make up for the inadequacy of monolingual English learners dictionaries
by providing Chinese equivalences. ·
It
remedies the deficiency of English-Chinese bilingual dictionaries. It is
designed in such a way that its users are encouraged to read and think in
English with a minimum need for using Chinese. ·
It
paves the way for readers to use monolingual English dictionaries, since the
original English version constitutes the core of this dictionary. ·
Last
but not least, its comparatively lower cost to that of general
English-Chinese bilingual dictionaries is appealing to users. We made additional modifications by taking the current
state of The dictionary was launched into the Chinese market in
2005, in full collaboration with KD. We were highly honored to have had the
assistance of Prof. Huang Jianhua, Chairman of the Commission of Bilingual
Dictionaries of the Lexicographical Association of China (http://bilex.gdufs.edu.cn/others/bilex.htm).
In his Preface to the dictionary, writing with coruscating wit, he gives a
lucid and academic exposition of the importance of the semi-bilingual
dictionary in active language learning. Professor Huang drew an analogy between the
semi-bilingual dictionary and “something that is neither fish nor fowl”,
eliciting a positive connotation from this usually negative phrase. He
referred to the semi-bilingual dictionary as a “new type of thing” that
cannot be exactly categorized and therefore integrates the advantages of both
categories. In his point of view, the concept of the dictionary is based on
the psychology of vocabulary acquisition in foreign language learning as
applied in learners dictionaries. In brief, the minimalistic translation that is provided
in the semi-bilingual approach is by no means a “lazy” dictionary layout;
rather, one that prominently promotes learner-friendly features. Liu Jin (Associate editor at SLPH, majoring in
International Chinese)
上海辞书出版社
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