Harbin Dialect Dictionary

Author: Li Rong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-12-01
Features: The dialect survey records the current state of the language, while the dialect comparison reflects the historical development of the language. The dialect dictionary presents the preliminary results of the research in a list format, allowing readers to look up the meanings of dialect words. Linguists can use it to conduct specialized research, and scholars in literature and history can also utilize the linguistic materials. In recent years, research on Chinese dialects has made progress. 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. The first step is to survey forty dialects and compile forty local dialect dictionaries. The second step 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 dictionary is based on dialect surveys. The survey first involves finding pronunciation collaborators. The selection of collaborators includes the elderly and middle-aged, but does not exclude the young. Based on the former, the phonemic system is determined, and the linguistic materials are recorded. The latter is used to supplement vocabulary while explaining the differences between the phonemic systems of 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 newly compiled for this project, "Dialect Survey Word Table." The single characters and words listed in these tables are as far as possible clarified if they can be spoken in the local dialect. Only in this way can the linguistic materials from different regions be compared for similarities and differences. These materials are merely the largest common denominator for the local dialect dictionaries. The local editors 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 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 proper, preceded by an introduction and followed by a category index and a index of entry first characters.