Wuhan Dialect Dictionary

Author: Li Rong, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-12-01
Features: The dialect surveys record the current state of languages, while dialect comparisons reflect the historical development of languages. The dialect dictionaries use a list format to present preliminary research findings. Readers can use them to look up the meanings of dialect words. Linguists can conduct specialized research based on them. Scholars in literature and history can also utilize the linguistic materials provided. Research on Chinese dialects has made progress in recent years. Under this background, we plan to compile a comprehensive modern Chinese dialect dictionary based primarily on field surveys. This plan is divided into two steps. Step one is to survey forty dialects and compile forty local dialect dictionaries. Step two is to supplement additional dialect materials based on the forty local dialect dictionaries and compile a comprehensive Chinese dialect dictionary. Both the local dialect dictionaries and the comprehensive Chinese dialect dictionary will be published by Jiangsu Education Press. The dialect dictionaries are based on dialect surveys. The surveys first involve identifying pronunciation collaborators. The selection of collaborators includes the elderly and middle-aged, but does not exclude the young. Based on the former, the phonetic system is determined, and linguistic materials are recorded. The latter is used to supplement vocabulary while explaining differences in the phonetic system compared to the former. The survey forms include character tables and word tables. The former adopts the publicly published "Dialect Survey Character Table," while the latter is a newly compiled "Dialect Survey Word Table" specifically for this project. The single characters and words listed in these tables are as far as possible clarified to ensure that they can be spoken in the dialect. Only in this way can the linguistic materials from different regions be compared for similarities and differences. These materials represent the maximum common denominator for the local dialect dictionaries. Local compilers have ample space to extensively collect the phonetic forms and vocabulary of their respective dialects. The requirements for the local dialect dictionaries are two: one is to prepare conditions for the comprehensive dialect dictionary, and the other is to reflect the characteristics of the dialect. The content of the local dialect dictionaries is divided into three parts: The main body is the dictionary entries, preceded by an introduction and followed by a category index and a stroke index of entry first characters.