Far East English - Chinese / Chinese - English Dictionary

by Liang Shih-Chiu

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: 9576120179
• ISBN13: 9789576120176
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: U.S. International Publishing, Inc.
• Length: 1353 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

There's a Method to the Simplified Chinese Character Madness

The bilingual Chinese dictionaries edited by outstanding lexicographer Liang Shih-Chiu are among the very best available in English. To check whether a Chinese dictionary uses traditional or simplified characters, look up the Chinese word for horse (in pinyin, ma (with tone 3, low tone)). If the bottom part of the character consists of a horizontal row of dots (traditionally described as the horse's four legs), the dictionary uses traditional characters. If the bottom part of the character consists of a single horizontal stroke, the dictionary uses simplified characters. The substitution of a horizontal stroke for a row of dots is one standard method for deriving a simplified character from a traditional one. Compare, for example, the traditional and simplified characters for the Mandarin Chinese word for fish (in pinyin, yú (with tone 2, rising tone)). Several inexpensive paperback books published in China but written in English present the various (unfortunately conflicting and inconsistent) methods by which some traditional characters were transformed into simplified ones. An Appendix in "Lin Yutang's Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage" (1979) ISBN 0394604768) shows scores of traditional character and simplified character equivalents side by side, allowing the reader to see simplification methods that apply to multiple traditional characters. Armed with this knowledge, the s/he can memorize each (traditional character, simplified character) pair as a single character plus a rule -- an easier task than remembering two arbitrary characters.

Confusions

Yes, I agree that it is extremely difficult to tell whether this is a traditional or modern Chinese dictionary. However, this is a universal truth in America; about 90% of the time, dictionaries are not subtitled "Modern" or "Traditional" and it is impossible to tell unless you actually look up a specific word. We would have to contact actual publishers in China and Taiwan in order to fix this problem. Generally speaking, it is better to ask someone (Chinese) to recommend a dictionary since actual bookstores usually don't carry good ones. This said, the Liang Shih-Chiu is a very good, advanced dictionary of TRADITIONAL Chinese that is used by most students from Taiwan.

This dictionary is probably Traditional characters.

I agree that it would be nice if there were a photo and if the description were to specify the type of characters used. I consider it essential to know whether the characters are simplified or traditional when I am selecting a dictionary. That being said, I believe that "Far East" is a publisher in Taiwan, and so it is most likely that this dictionary would use traditional characters. However, I can't be 100% sure because I've never seen the book.