Chinese-English Bilingual_Modern Chinese Dictionary (2002 Supplement Edition)

Author: Dictionary Editing Office, Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-03-01
Features: A bilingual dictionary translated from a single original must first have a good original. The Modern Chinese Dictionary is a high-quality and well-received dictionary since its publication, having sold nearly 40 million copies and exerted significant social influence. Its characteristics include clear objectives, strict format, precise word selection, accurate annotations, and concise examples. Now, the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press has organized efforts to translate it into English and publish a bilingual edition, which is a major event in China's bilingual dictionary publishing industry. The Modern Chinese Dictionary was compiled under the guidance of the State Council with the aim of "promoting Mandarin and standardizing Chinese," making it a standard dictionary for modern Chinese. The standardization of words generally cannot be achieved through administrative orders; compiling high-quality dictionaries is an important way to standardize them. High-quality dictionary compilation must be based on scientific research, requiring compilers to start from the linguistic facts of modern Chinese, master first-hand data, and use advanced linguistic theories as guidance. Under the leadership of the renowned linguistics masters Mr. Lü Shuxiang and Mr. Ding Shengshu, a first-class team of dictionary compilers has worked tirelessly for a long time, collecting over a million data cards, along with comprehensive and meticulous analysis and synthesis. The hard work has yielded fruitful results, forming a stark contrast to the current practices of many dictionaries, which are often hastily compiled, pieced together, or even plagiarized.
With the progress of reform and opening-up and modernization, China's social life is undergoing extremely rich changes, which inevitably reflect in the language, particularly in vocabulary, where new words and meanings emerge constantly. This bilingual edition adopts the latest 2002 supplementary edition of The Modern Chinese Dictionary, which adds over 1,200 new words and meanings since the 1996 revised edition, basically reflecting the development and changes in modern Chinese vocabulary. It is not surprising that dictionary compilation and revision often lag behind linguistic developments. The work of organizing modern Chinese vocabulary, compiling, and revising cannot be considered a one-time task. As a standard dictionary, not all new words and meanings are included because some newly emerged words may become fashionable for a time but soon become obsolete, which is not uncommon. The Modern Chinese Dictionary adopts a policy that is both proactive and prudent in incorporating new words and meanings, which is beneficial to the enrichment and standardization of modern Chinese vocabulary. Many bilingual dictionaries published in China and abroad have used The Modern Chinese Dictionary as a reference, such as the highly acclaimed Chinese-English Dictionary. Now, a dozen outstanding translators have faithfully translated The Modern Chinese Dictionary into English, which will further enhance users' understanding of Chinese words and improve the use of Chinese. I believe that Chinese people learning English, translators, those engaged in Chinese-English information processing and language engineering, as well as foreign teachers and students studying Chinese, will all benefit from this bilingual edition.
As a bilingual edition of The Modern Chinese Dictionary, it is inevitable that there will be some errors and omissions, which will need to be improved through continuous revisions in the future.