1%homeless Posted February 2, 2004 at 04:28 AM Report Posted February 2, 2004 at 04:28 AM I'm wondering if there are any Classical Chinese-English dictionaries available. Does a book like this exist? What about Middle Chinese? Quote
skylee Posted February 2, 2004 at 06:32 AM Report Posted February 2, 2004 at 06:32 AM What is Middle Chinese? Quote
JackP Posted February 2, 2004 at 08:32 AM Report Posted February 2, 2004 at 08:32 AM This might be what you're looking for... However, I can't seem to find if he finished it already or that somebody is willing to publish it... JP Quote
1%homeless Posted February 2, 2004 at 06:23 PM Author Report Posted February 2, 2004 at 06:23 PM What is Middle Chinese? Basically, if you're into historical linguistics, there are terms for dating languages. The western world categorizes the English language and many other indo-european languages into three periods. Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. Old French, Middle French, and Modern French. Etc. I guess this kind of categorization is used for non-Indo European languages as well... Quote
1%homeless Posted February 2, 2004 at 06:36 PM Author Report Posted February 2, 2004 at 06:36 PM However, I can't seem to find if he finished it already or that somebody is willing to publish it... http://www.yehoshua.com/zidian/ "Only one of them is done, and I am working on the others simultaneously." He says one of them is done, but which one? Oh well... the stonecarver's dictionary looks awesome. Quote
Guest Cheng & Tsui Company Posted February 3, 2004 at 05:24 PM Report Posted February 3, 2004 at 05:24 PM I think most people agree that there are no good, up-to-date Chinese-English dictionaries for classical Chinese. The one most widely used is the Matthews' Dictionary, but this is way out of date and not even written specifically for classical Chinese. There is also Karlgren's GRAMMATICA SERICA RECENSA, which has definitions and etymologies, but I believe that's mainly for pre-Han Chinese. (see http://www.cheng-tsui.com/sb_catalog-csm.asp?grp=CS++&item=9576382696) Unfortunately, the only really good AND up-to-date dictionaries you'll find are Chinese-Chinese dictionaries. Please, someone write a good dictionary and submit the manuscript to our company! Dan Quote
Jive Turkey Posted February 4, 2004 at 01:08 AM Report Posted February 4, 2004 at 01:08 AM As far as C>E for classical is concerned, the best you can do might be to just get one of the monster dictionaries like the two volume Shanghai Jiaotong. There is a good bit of classical stuff in it and it would be useful for all kinds of technical words, too. Don't plan on toting it to class, though. Quote
roddy Posted February 5, 2004 at 02:39 PM Report Posted February 5, 2004 at 02:39 PM there are no good, up-to-date Chinese-English dictionaries for classical Chinese. This may be a stupid question, but how would a classical Chinese dictionary keep up to date? I mean, presumably you don't need to add new vocab to it . . . Roddy Quote
1%homeless Posted February 5, 2004 at 09:38 PM Author Report Posted February 5, 2004 at 09:38 PM This may be a stupid question, but how would a classical Chinese dictionary keep up to date? I mean, presumably you don't need to add new vocab to it . . . Well, interpretations of chinese characters and pronunciation do need updating because of new linguistic knoweledge and research. The etymology of chinese characters is another thing. Quote
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