Outlier Semantic Components Posters + Giveaway

[OneEye]

You should have them in your inboxes. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

[lechuan]

When do backers get their pdfs/posters?

[OneEye]

If you ordered the Simplified/English posters, you should have gotten an email yesterday with the link to download your copy. The others (Traditional/English and both sets of German posters) will be sent out as soon as they're ready—should all be done within the next few weeks.

 

If you ordered the Simplified/English posters but didn't get them yet, let me know.

[lechuan]

Ah! That would explain it. Turns out I ordered traditional. Looking forward to it!

[朱真明]

@OneEye

 

Would you be able to explain the usefulness of these semantic components? I am still very unfamiliar with how you guys are going to set-up this dictionary and workbook. 

[roddy]

You might want to have a read of this - fairly sure it's in there somewhere. 

[OneEye]

@朱真明,

 

I'd give you some links to our blog posts, but you've commented on all of the ones I'd link, so I know you've read them. Maybe our YouTube videos will help clear up the confusion. If not, just let me know what's still unclear, and I'll do my best to clarify.

[朱真明]

After reading through the post offered by "roddy", I think I pretty much understand what is going on. There was a couple of interesting things that I still have questions. You said that in the dictionary the meaning of each word will show all of its historical meanings as it developed through time. I am quite curious on how you guys will go about achieving this given the large amount of contention regarding what words actually mean in different times and different contexts. What references are you using?

 

You have also mentioned that there will be some relation with Japanese in the future. Do you have any more details regarding this?

 

On the same note, you have talked about various ambitious future developments with the dictionary after it has already been released, will this be like pleco add-ons or will it be free? If it is free, at the risk of enraging hundreds of people......it seems that you are undercharging for this product, don't you think? 

[Tianjin42]

Cheers OneEye. Review posted.

[OneEye]

You said that in the dictionary the meaning of each word will show all of its historical meanings as it developed through time. I am quite curious on how you guys will go about achieving this given the large amount of contention regarding what words actually mean in different times and different contexts. What references are you using?

 

Well, we're not showing the historical development of meanings, but logical connections between meanings. I may have slipped up and said historical development somewhere (if I did, please let me know where so I can fix it!), because that was our original idea before we realized it would be nearly impossible, as you point out.

 

You have also mentioned that there will be some relation with Japanese in the future. Do you have any more details regarding this?

 

We plan to develop a dictionary and/or app for people learning kanji, using the same approach we use for Chinese but modified for Japanese. It's probably 2+ years down the road, unfortunately.

 

On the same note, you have talked about various ambitious future developments with the dictionary after it has already been released, will this be like pleco add-ons or will it be free? If it is free, at the risk of enraging hundreds of people......it seems that you are undercharging for this product, don't you think?

 

The initial release will be 2000 characters, and a later update will cover 3500. That update will be free, because the initial 2000-character release is just intended to be a temporary thing so we can get our product out there quickly. In the future, we may expand to 5000 characters or more, but that will be a paid upgrade. Are those the developments you're talking about?

 

As far as pricing, that's something we agonized over quite a bit. In fact, a very prominent Sinologist and pedagogue told us we should charge three times what we're charging for the Expert Edition (which is already $59.99), because academics would still buy it. That's probably true, but we'd rather make it more accessible for non-specialists—people who happen to be interested but won't use the info professionally. We have other products in mind for professional Sinologists, but we haven't figured out all the details so we haven't announced anything yet.

 

Let me know if I can answer anything else!

[OneEye]

Cheers OneEye. Review posted.

 

Awesome, thanks so much!

[陳德聰]

As far as pricing, that's something we agonized over quite a bit. In fact, a very prominent Sinologist and pedagogue told us we should charge three times what we're charging for the Expert Edition (which is already $59.99), because academics would still buy it. That's probably true, but we'd rather make it more accessible for non-specialists—people who happen to be interested but won't use the info professionally. We have other products in mind for professional Sinologists, but we haven't figured out all the details so we haven't announced anything yet.

This is very refreshing to read.

[OneEye]

OK, I've (finally) sent out the Traditional posters to those of you who requested them. Sorry for the delay!

[歐博思]

I just happened to log in at the almost exact same time as you sent that. Oh yeah baby here we gooooo  

[Rey]

Hi OneEye,

 

       Can I get a copy ? 

[OneEye]

No, that offer has long since passed.

 

But, you and anyone else who wants a copy can order them here.

[Rey]

Thanks

 

I didn't the see any duedate for asking a free of charge copy and I still not see it

 

 

Thanks

 

I didn't the see any duedate and I still not see it

 

Quote

Outlier is finally ready to release our first product—the Semantic Components Posters!

 

I'm giving away a free PDF copy of both posters to five Chinese-forums members. If you're interested, just post in this thread and tell me which version (simplified or traditional) you want. Priority will go to people who seem like they'll actually follow through and post a review, so it isn't necessarily first-come, first-served.   The only thing we ask for in return is that you post a review here on Chinese-forums, but of course if you have a blog or YouTube channel or something and want to review it there too, that would be great. 

 

pre-order-semantic-components-posters-no

(That's a somewhat earlier version, but the layout has only changed a bit)

 

These hi-res, A1-sized (594mm x 841mm, 23.39" x 33.11") posters cover 100 semantic components (50 per poster) and give explanations of their:

 

form (what was it originally a "picture" of?)

meaning when used as a component

meaning when used by itself as a character in modern Chinese

a Chinese name or description for each component so you can talk about the component in Chinese—something a lot of learning materials ignore

tons of example characters (nearly 600 total!) using it as a semantic (meaning or form) component

stroke order diagrams, variants, traditional and simplified, important notes, etc.

They're really cool, and I wish I had had access to good info like this when I first started learning characters.

 

One of the coolest things IMO is that it features beautiful handwriting by Harvey Dam (aka Chinese-forums' very own Hofmann) for both the main entries (brush and ink) and the stroke order diagrams (pencil). 

 

Here's a sample entry from the first Simplified poster, with each part labeled and explained below:

 

rou.png

 

1     Stroke order. ROC standard for traditional, PRC standard for simplified.

2     Frame number. T for traditional, S for simplified. For easy cross-referencing.

3     Main entry. The semantic component itself.

4     Full form (if red) or abbreviated component form (if grey). Not all entries have or need this.

5     Pronunciation in Hànyǔ Pīnyīn. Traditional poster also has Zhùyīn Fúhào (Bopomofo).

6     Explanation of the component’s form.

7     Meaning when used as a component.

8     Meaning when used as a word or in a word.

9     Important notes about the component. Not all entries have or need this.

10   Simple, one-word (usually!) meaning for the component.

11    Chinese name or description of the component*, so you know what to call it in Chinese.

12    Example characters using it as a semantic (meaning or form) component.

13    Variants of the component, if they exist.

14    The component’s form in the “other” system (the traditional form on the simplified poster and vice-versa) if it exists.

 

[Shelley]

We'll announce the lucky 5 on Monday morning (Tokyo time).

 

Posted 9 Jan. 2016 by OneEye.

 

I reckon that is the due date.

[Rey]

 

I reckon that is the due date

 

Not sure but It does not matter.

[lois]

Amazing! Am I too late here? I will post them on my wechat, and I promise, please send me one copy. Thank you so much!