Entry markings in Wenlin

[jbiesnecker]

Can someone tell me what the asterisk after the pinyin means in Wenlin entries. i.e.,

参议[參議] cānyì* v. wr.〉①participate in policy-making discussion ②counsel; advise

I've searched all through their help files and haven't found anything

[gato]

Wenlin's documentation should have included the Reader's Guide to the ABC Dictionary or at least directed to its web address, but unfortunately it doesn't.

You can find it here:

http://www.chinesestudies.hawaii.edu/abc/pdf/guide.pdf

http://www.chinesestudies.hawaii.edu/abc/

For entries with identical spelling, including tones, arrangement is by order of frequency, indicated by a raised number before the transcription, a device adapted from Western lexicographic practice to distinguish homonyms. In the case of monosyllabic entries, our frequency order is based largely on Xiandai Hanyu Pinyin Cidian. In the case of entries of more than one syllable, we have also made use of Zhongwen Shumianyu Pinyin Cidian. For entries not found in either work, we have made subjective judgments of relative frequency. For entries that are homographic if tones are disregarded, the item of highest frequency is indicated by an asterisk following the transcription. For example:

ba*

In your case, I think it means that there are multiple versions of "canyi" if one disregard the tones, and 参议 cānyì is the most common version.

[jbiesnecker]

Excellent, thanks Gato.

[atitarev]

Thanks a lot, Gato! I was puzzled by many abbreviations in Wenlin and wouldn't know what they mean. Now we have the docs!

[gato]

You're welcome! It's weird that neither Wenlin or PlecoDict directs us to this Reader's Guide explaining the ABC Dictionary notations. This notation system is actually far from obvious.

[stephanhodges]

The readers guide is in the current version of Wenlin (3.3.6). I don't want to uninstall to check previous versions.

Just go to help -> Using Wenlin -> About the ABC Dictionary -> User Guide

This will open up the file "abc.u8"

[gato]

Good call. It's in 3.2.2, as well, but I'm not sure if it was there in 3.0.

[tai4ji2x]

In your case, I think it means that there are multiple versions of "canyi" if one disregard the tones, and 参议 cānyì is the most common version.

could you clarify what you mean by this? i'm still a little confused

[Ole]

Quote:

In your case, I think it means that there are multiple versions of "canyi" if one disregard the tones, and 参议 cānyì is the most common version.

could you clarify what you mean by this?

pronounced can*yi*

Rank of frequency:

1: 参议 cānyì* v. participate in policy-making discussion 736.000 google hits

2: 蚕衣 cányī n. ①silkworm cocoon ②silk dress 19.600 google hits

3: 蚕蚁 cányǐ n. newly-hatched silkworm 14.300 google hits

[tai4ji2x]

ah, i see.

still, i find it an unusual distinction. what i don't get is why the same thing isn't done when there are words with the same pinyin, including tone...

like:

rényuán 人员, 人缘, or 人猿

cíhuì 慈诲 or 词汇

[tai4ji2x]

hmm, and thus another discovery - if there are three or more tone-distinguished, multi-syllable pinyin words, but two of them happen to have identical tones, the identical ones will not have the asterisk either.

还报 huánbào v. repay ◆n. retribution

环抱 huánbào v. encircle; hem in

环保 huán-bǎo* n. environmental protection

(only 环保 has the asterisk)

so, in the end, i'm somewhat curious as to what is even the point of having this notation to begin with...

[tai4ji2x]

wait, disregard the last remark in the post. i understand WHY, it just seems to have a few oversights in implementation, imo

[tai4ji2x]

blah, never mind. a friend just explained it all to me. i must not be getting enough sleep lately