How to explain "punch card"? Why was "hard core" not included? The story behind Xinhua Dictionary
The 12th edition of "Xinhua Dictionary" that just went on the market brings a wave of memories with its familiar appearance, and it is refreshing with its entry of new words such as "like" and "check in" and the simultaneous listing of the APP. Known as the "national dictionary" aroused all people's attention, what is the charm of the classics? What are the "new" aspects of the 12th edition?
On August 11, citizens bought the newly listed "Xinhua Dictionary" (12th edition) in the Beijing Book Building. "Xinhua Dictionary" (Twelfth Edition) was released on August 10, adding new words such as "Chuanxin", "Like", and "QR Code", and for the first time realized the simultaneous release of application APP and paper books. Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the compilation of "Xinhua Dictionary".
The Xinhua Dictionary Society, established in August 1950, started the compilation of "Xinhua Dictionary". This work was presided over by Wei Jiangong, then head of the Chinese Department of Peking University, and Ye Shengtao personally acted as the reviewer. In December 1953, the first edition of "Xinhua Dictionary" was published. Five million copies were sold out in half a year. This is the first dictionary arranged in sequence in New China, which embodies "standard, scientific, practical and convenient". The characteristics of the new China made great contributions to the national literacy movement.
On August 11, the "Xinhua Dictionary" (12th edition) sold by Beijing Book Building and the mobile application of the same name launched simultaneously. Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
After 1957, the "Xinhua Dictionary" was published and distributed by the Commercial Press, after which several editions were adjusted. In 1998, the Language Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences carried out a comprehensive revision of the "Xinhua Dictionary" for two years, containing more than 10,000 single words and more than 3,500 words. The new words added in the 2004 edition, such as genes, CD-ROM, and the Internet, reflect the development and progress of Chinese society. In the 11th edition of 2011, some Internet terms were gradually incorporated, such as "sun", "slave" and "door". "Door" added the interpretation of "events, mostly negative events", and grouped the words " Educational qualifications".
The newly launched 12th edition of "Xinhua Dictionary" is more advanced with the times. It was announced on the day of its first release that the APP and the paper book will be available simultaneously. At the same time, new words have been added, such as "Chuxin", "Like", "QR code", etc. In terms of interpretation, the meaning of "immature and cute: selling cute" has been added to "Meng", which is very close to life.
On August 11, the newly-listed "Xinhua Dictionary" (12th edition) has an added definition of "Like". The QR code at the top of the inner page can be scanned to provide value-added services. Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
The charm of the classic lies in excellence.
""Xinhua Dictionary" is a silent teacher" "My parents just took the "Xinhua Dictionary" to give me a name"... a wave of memories on the Internet, let netizens miss the various uses of "Xinhua Dictionary" when they were young . Since the publication of "Xinhua Dictionary" 70 years ago, it has accompanied the growth of several generations of readers, and it has also witnessed the development of the times and has become a part of the daily life of the people.
Yu Guilin, director of the Chinese Center of the Commercial Press, said, “Wherever there are Chinese books, there is the Xinhua Dictionary.” In the 1950s, the dictionary contained more than 8,000 Chinese characters, but in the 11th edition, the number of Chinese characters was included. Increased to 13,000.
From the beginning of 2002 to the revision of the "Xinhua Dictionary", Professor Cheng Rong, a researcher at the Institute of Languages of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has presided over the revision of the 10th and 12th editions. Version 11. In the past two decades, China has developed rapidly and social changes are overwhelming. These changes will always be reflected in the words and phrases the fastest.
On August 11th, the staff of Beijing Book Building arranged and placed "Xinhua Dictionary" (12th edition). Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
Which new words can be accepted and which new words cannot be accepted? Cheng Rong explained that the criteria for judging are the three basic principles of standardized Chinese dictionaries, namely universality, stability and standardization. On this basis, when investigating and screening new words, pay attention to the inclusion of new meaning items. But when there is no more mature new term, it is not forced to collect, but to continue to pay attention to the new corpus, and increase the income when it is truly mature. For a few new words to be added, it is necessary to repeatedly scrutinize and polish the interpretation.
Take the "punch card" included this time as an example, the revision team revised the interpretation more than ten times before and after it was finally finalized:
[Check in]
1. Use a magnetic card or other means close to the machine to record the commuting time.
2. Refers to the completion of learning, visiting and other activities and recording in a specific way: recitation of ancient poems~|~Forbidden City.
At the same time, "hard core" as a new term was not included this time. The revision team believes that there are still differences in understanding, and it is not mature and stable. "As a foreign word, its original musical meaning is rarely used in daily life. Is'hardcore' strong, sturdy or tough, powerful, etc. , Has a lot of meanings in different contexts, and different people will understand and use them differently."
Compared with these complicated and tedious desk work, field investigations are more difficult. Liu Danqing, director of the Institute of Language Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, “A large number of seemingly small issues have been investigated and studied, such as the pronunciation of some place names and surnames that are not satisfied with various reference books and special books. Search, but go north and south, east in and west out, and get real knowledge through first-hand actual investigation."
On August 11, when using the newly-listed "Xinhua Dictionary" (12th edition), you can scan the QR code at the top of each page with your mobile phone to understand the standardized writing of the corresponding word. Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
Take the common place name "Quarry Bay" in Hong Kong as an example. Many people mispronounce it or don't know how to pronounce it. The 12th edition adds the prefix for place names to the word "Quail Bay" on the basis of zéi: zé is used for Place name: ~ Fish Bay (chōng) (in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region).
In fact, there has been a debate about whether to pronounce zéi, jì or zé in Quarry Bay. Cheng Rong said that the 11th edition did not have any additions because there was no conclusion at that time, and after expert argumentation, the final decision was reached. Professor Mai Yun from the Institute of Languages of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as a Cantonese, specifically discussed that before the reform and opening up, the phonetic transcription and phonetic notation of Mandarin Chinese dictionaries did not include the place name "Quarry Bay" in Hong Kong. Naturally, the word "鲗" was only used for " A pronunciation of "Wuwei"; and now considering this place name, it is reasonable to add a sound to it.
The "zone" and "(land + zone)" experienced by Professor Cheng Rong are even more bumpy. In order to understand the origin, she went to Zou District in Changzhou, Jiangsu and Chen District in Gaoping, Shanxi to conduct research. In Changzhou, she walked through the streets and alleys to find old houses. Finally, she vaguely saw the old wording of "Zou (土 + district) town" on the number plates of the old houses to be demolished. During the inspection in Gaoping, Shanxi, the local people asked three questions, and finally obtained a local place-name chronicle after several rounds, and finally solved the problem.
In fact, as a small linguistic reference book, "Xinhua Dictionary" is still able to meet the various needs of readers, and it is inseparable from timely revision and maintenance. All the contents of each revision are the careful and systematic revisions of the "Dictionary" made by the revisionist on the basis of maintaining the original characteristics of the "Xinhua Dictionary", and in accordance with the development of the times and readers' needs. Continuous revision and upgrading is the key to keeping a young reference book forever.
The meaning of "Xinhua Dictionary" has long surpassed the dictionary itself. Since its birth 70 years ago, it has become an important cultural symbol of New China and a spiritual holy book in the hearts of hundreds of millions of readers.
"Xinhua Dictionary" (12th edition) book cover organizer photo courtesy
One of the Easter eggs in "Xinhua Dictionary":
In April 2016, "Xinhua Dictionary" won two Guinness World Records for "Most Popular Dictionary" and "Best Selling Book (Regularly Revised)". As of the calculation time of the two record statistics on July 28, 2015, the global circulation of "Xinhua Dictionary" reached 567 million copies.
Easter egg two:
It is said that the price of "Xinhua Dictionary" has a "law of pork", that is, the price of a dictionary is basically the same as the price of 500 grams of pork in the same period. For example, the 1957 edition of "Xinhua Dictionary" is priced at 1 yuan, the 1998 edition is 11 yuan, and the 2004 edition is 16 yuan. , The 2011 version of the two-color version is priced at 24.9 yuan, and the newly launched 12-version two-color version in 2020 is priced at 32.9 yuan, almost the same as the price of pork in the same period.
Reporter: Ying Ni