Chinese dictionary

There are two main types of dictionaries used in the Chinese language: character dictionaries and word dictionaries. Character dictionaries, called 字典 (zìdiǎn), list individual Chinese characters. Word dictionaries, called 辭典 (cídiǎn), list words and phrases. Because written Chinese uses tens of thousands of characters, special methods have been created to organize them for easy use.

Chinese dictionaries have been published for over 2,000 years, starting in the Han dynasty. This makes Chinese the language with the longest history of dictionary-making. Dictionaries have been made not only for standard Chinese, but also for many different varieties of the language.

One very important Chinese dictionary is the Kangxi Dictionary, finished in 1716 during the Qing dynasty. It introduced 214 Kangxi radicals, which are still used today to help organize characters in dictionaries.

Terminology

The general term cishu means "dictionary; lexicon; encyclopedia; glossary" in Chinese. The Chinese language has two words for dictionary: zidian for dictionaries that list written characters, and cidian for dictionaries that list spoken words and phrases.

For zidian, or character dictionaries, the word combines zi meaning "character" and dian meaning "dictionary". For cidian, or word dictionaries, the word can be written in a couple of ways and uses cí meaning "word" or "phrase". Zidian is an older and more commonly used word than cidian.

Traditional Chinese lexicography

The earliest guides to reading Chinese characters were created for students. Some of the oldest examples exist only in pieces or mentions in old Chinese books. One early example is the Shizhoupian, made by historians in the court of King Xuan of Zhou around 827–782 BCE.

Chinese dictionaries are organized differently from those for languages that use alphabets. Because Chinese uses characters instead of letters, dictionary makers created three main ways to arrange characters: by meaning groups, by parts of the character, and by sound.

One way to organize dictionaries is by grouping words by their meanings. The Erya, from around the 3rd century BCE, is the oldest surviving Chinese dictionary. It lists words in groups such as "Plants" and "Trees." Later dictionaries, like the Xiao Erya from the Han dynasty, used fewer groups.

Another method arranges characters by parts they share, called radicals. The Shuowen Jiezi from 100–121 CE used 540 radicals to organize characters. Over time, this system was simplified. The Kangxi Dictionary from 1716 CE became the standard and used 214 radicals, a system still used today.

The third method organizes characters by sound. The Qieyun from 601 CE was the first dictionary to arrange characters by sound groups, or rimes. Later dictionaries, like the Guangyun from 1011 CE, expanded on this idea. Modern dictionaries often use a system called pinyin to help with pronunciation.

Modern Chinese lexicography

The Kangxi Dictionary has been a key reference for many years and is still used today, even online. Today, Chinese dictionaries come in two types: those that are in two languages and those that use only Chinese.

Chinese–English dictionaries

People who came to China long ago needed dictionaries to help them learn the language. They made the first books to help others learn Chinese. These early books used a special writing system to show how words sounded.

Important people helped make these dictionaries. One wrote a big book in the early 1800s, and others added more information over time. These books helped people understand Chinese better, though they had some mistakes.

Later, more detailed dictionaries were made. One famous book from 1892 had many words and ways they were said in different parts of China. New ways of writing the sounds of Chinese words were also created to make these books easier to use.

In the 1900s, more modern dictionaries were written. Some focused on how people speak Chinese today, while others looked at older ways of speaking. These books helped both learners and experts understand the language better.

Chinese–Chinese dictionaries

When a new government began in China in 1912, people wanted to update old dictionaries. They made new books that fixed mistakes and added new words. These books helped people learn the meaning and use of Chinese words.

One popular pocket dictionary from 1953 is still widely used today. Another dictionary from 1973 is also well-known and has been updated many times. Big modern dictionaries with hundreds of thousands of words were made in the late 1980s.

Today, many Chinese dictionaries can be used on computers and the internet. Free online dictionaries are available for people to use around the world.

Specialized dictionaries

Chinese publishing houses create many types of specialized dictionaries, called zhuanke cidian. There are over 130 different subjects, ranging from abbreviations to zoology. Here are a few examples from different areas.

Ancient Chinese

Dictionaries for Ancient Chinese help us understand words and characters used in literature before 1911. They are usually organized by sound or by character groups, and they show the oldest meanings first. They also include quotes from old books to show how words were used. Some of these dictionaries also include special readings of words from long ago and shapes of characters from ancient writing on bronze or oracle bones.

Dialects

Long ago, the Fangyan was the first dictionary for Chinese dialects. In Chinese, fangyan can mean different regional ways of speaking, including languages like Cantonese and Hakka, which are very different from Mandarin. Some dictionaries focus on these regional languages.

Idioms

Chinese has several kinds of special phrases called idioms. Some modern dictionaries focus just on these idioms.

Loanwords

The Chinese language has borrowed words from other languages, especially after explorers brought back ideas from far away. Many new words came into Chinese when Western countries made contact with China, and some came through the Japanese language. Some of these borrowed words are still used today.

Vernacular literature

In the 20th century, scholars studied the special words used in everyday stories, plays, and poems from the past. Many important books explain these old, everyday words.

Chinese learners

Dictionaries for people learning Chinese as a new language use lists of characters arranged by how often they are used. These dictionaries help learners understand the most common words and phrases.

Deficiencies

Victor H. Mair talks about eight problems with old ways of making Chinese dictionaries. These issues are still sometimes seen today. The problems include mixing up spoken words with written symbols, not studying how words originally came to be, and not having clear ways to show how words sound. There was also no easy way for people to find words in dictionaries, and the writing system kept changing, making it hard to keep up with all the symbols used in Chinese writing.