Bilingual Chinese-English: Modern Chinese Dictionary (2002 Supplement Edition)

Author: Lexicography Department, Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-11-01
Features: A bilingual dictionary translated from a single source 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 advancing the standardization of Chinese," making it a standardized dictionary for modern Chinese. The standardization of words generally cannot be achieved through administrative orders; compiling high-quality dictionaries is an important way to achieve this. 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 linguistic masters Mr. Lü Shuxiang and Mr. Ding Shengshu, a top-tier 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 complexity and hard work involved are unimaginable. Only through painstaking effort can fruitful results be achieved, forming a stark contrast with the current practices of many dictionaries, which are often poorly made, hastily compiled, 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 edition of the bilingual dictionary adopts the new 2002 supplement of The Modern Chinese Dictionary, which adds over 1,200 new words and meanings since the 1996 revision, reflecting the development and changes of modern Chinese vocabulary. It is not uncommon for dictionary compilation and revision to lag behind linguistic developments. The work of organizing modern Chinese vocabulary, compiling, and revising can never be considered a one-time task. As a standardized dictionary, not all new words and meanings are included, as some newly emerging terms may become fashionable for a time but soon fade away. 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 been based on The Modern Chinese Dictionary, such as the highly acclaimed Chinese-English Dictionary. Now, a dozen outstanding translators have faithfully translated The Modern Chinese Dictionary into English, further enhancing users' understanding of Chinese words and improving the level of Chinese usage. 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 of 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 refined through continuous revisions in the future.