Behind the revised 12th edition of "Xinhua Dictionary"
For the word ran all over the country for the word modification more than ten times
New words and meanings such as "Chuxin", "Fans", "Screenshots", "QR Code", "Selling Meng", and "Carpooling" have been added. Each page of the book is printed with a QR code, which can be accessed from the "Xinhua Dictionary" APP by scanning with a mobile phone. Check all the words on the page... Once the 12th edition of "Xinhua Dictionary" was released, it rushed to the hot search on Weibo, with a total of more than 78 million topic views.
Don’t look at the "Xinhua Dictionary" whose "head" is not big, but it contains more than 700,000 characters, and has become the "non-speaking teacher" for hundreds of millions of Chinese to recognize and learn characters; don't look at the "Xinhua Dictionary" as "70 years old", but Every few years will "upgrade" and update the latest knowledge.
How many processes does the "Xinhua Dictionary" go through?
How to determine the new words added?
Who will participate in the revision?
...In late October, a reporter from the Beijing News interviewed Cheng Rong, the host of the 12th edition of the "Xinhua Dictionary" and a researcher at the Institute of Languages of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, to reveal the story behind the "Xinhua Dictionary" revision.
Experience the craftsmanship in the process of revising the dictionary
After receiving the task of revising the 12th edition of the Xinhua Dictionary, Cheng Rong described his state in one sentence: heavy responsibility and pressure. Although he has many years of work experience, he has always been more courageous in revising the dictionary. small.
In fact, Cheng Rong has a long history with the revision of the Xinhua Dictionary.
Since 1956, the Institute of Language Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has been responsible for editing and editing the "Xinhua Dictionary".
In early 2002, the Language Research Institute decided to revise the tenth edition, and Cheng Rong became the moderator of this revision.
After that, she cooperated with Mr. Jiang Lansheng, former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and member of the academic department, to participate in the revision of the 11th edition.
Preparations for the 12th edition of "Xinhua Dictionary" began in June 2013, and were officially planned and started gradually in 2015 until its official debut in August 2020.
The preparation time is nearly two years, and the total time is as long as seven years.
In this regard, Cheng Rong said that the more sufficient preparations are done, the fewer difficulties will be encountered in the actual revision, and the greater the possibility of success in the revision.
"In the early stage, we must study various national policies, collect new information, investigate and investigate the remaining issues of the previous revisions, analyze and summarize the latest achievements of the disciplines involved, opinions from experts and readers, and analyze the 11th edition and national standards Comparing the differences between regulations and regulations, etc." After sufficient preparation, Cheng Rong, as the host of this revision, will propose a revision plan, which mainly includes revision plans, basic ideas, revision content, operating procedures, and operating methods.
After that, after a focused multi-party solicitation of opinions, trial operation of the revised plan, and fine-tuning and refinement according to actual conditions, the revised plan was finally determined and officially put into operation.
In Cheng Rong's view, as a brand dictionary, the revision of "Xinhua Dictionary" is not a new edition, and it is not appropriate to start anew to change the original theme and style, otherwise it will inevitably lose the existing readership.
However, the continuation and maintenance of the original style and characteristics does not mean that innovation is impossible. The revised version is launched to better follow the times, so it is precisely necessary to innovate in the revision.
In order to maintain inheritance and strive to innovate, the 12th edition of the "Xinhua Dictionary" has been revised to follow up on the standardization of Chinese characters, add new words and new meanings, supplement and correct the explanations of place names, improve the "radical inspection table", update appendices, etc. Special project, sorted out and reviewed many contents, revised and improved.
Both Fu Na and Zhang Yongwei, associate researchers born in the 1980s, participated in the dictionary revision work for the first time.
Fu Na said that for herself, this is a brand-new experience. "Such a revision method can cultivate and exercise the sense of responsibility of young and middle-aged editors, and it will also facilitate a more comprehensive and in-depth investigation of specific issues during implementation. I understand that in the process of discovering and solving problems, getting the guidance of the revision host, and the full discussion of various opinions, and the inspiration of many teachers in the revision group have enabled novices like me to grow faster." Zhang Yongwei also Said that while completing each task, he subtly received a lot of formal training and benefited a lot. "I participated in the revision process and realized what is the'craftsman spirit'."
The reporter learned that, in order to better complete the revision work, the revision group of the 12th edition is composed of people of different ages from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. The professional research background involves philology, vocabulary, Grammar, lexicography, computer information processing, etc.
""Xinhua Dictionary" is a common language dictionary, and all majors will be involved. Therefore, our revision team members have different research expertise. Moreover, there are young, middle-aged and young people in the age group. Excellent young and middle-aged people continue to pass on." Cheng Rong said.
For one word, go north and south and go east and west for thousands of kilometers
"The huge amount of revision work cannot be fully seen from the 700,000-word "Xinhua Dictionary" itself. There are a lot of hardships behind the new book of "Xinhua Dictionary" 12th edition." Cheng Rong said.
As a reference book, every word written into the "Xinhua Dictionary" must be accurate.
In order to be "accurate", the revisionists made great efforts.
On pages 363 and 408 of the dictionary, there is such a seemingly inconspicuous word "formula", followed by the pronunciation and usage of the word, which are "ōu，陈~(地名，在山西省高平，'Formula" 'Currently writing' district', sound qū) and “used in place names, Zou~ (in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, now called'Zou District')". Don’t look at only a few lines of explanation, behind this is Cheng Rong to determine this When one word is used for the writing and pronunciation of place names, I went to towns in Jiangsu and Shanxi provinces to conduct field investigations.
In 2013, the "Common Standard Chinese Characters Table" was released, involving 8,105 characters, among which there was a three-level word "formula" whose attribute is a place name.
In the "Great Dictionary of Geographical Names of the People's Republic of China", the word "Zou~zhen" in Jiangsu is included, with the phonetic notation: Zōuqū Zhèn, and the "Chen~zhen" from Shanxi, with the phonetic notation: Chén'ōu Zhèn.
Can "Xinhua Dictionary" directly use this as a basis for the phonetic interpretation of the word?
From the map involved, it was found that the writing of "Zou District Town" and "Chen District Town" was not too small. Telephone consultation of the pronunciation of "district" in the local "Chen District Town" could not prove the pronunciation of ōu, which was inconsistent with the old information.
In order to ensure the accuracy of the phonetic interpretation of the word "formula" when it is used in place names, it is necessary to go to the local investigation and directly obtain the latest first-hand information.
In the suburbs of Changzhou, Cheng Rong walked through the streets to look for old houses. Finally, on the number plates of the old houses to be demolished, he vaguely saw the old wording of "Zou Formula Town" and the new wording later.
"The one in Jiangsu is clarified, and then this one in Shanxi is left. If only the Zouqu town of Jiangsu is reflected in the dictionary, it is okay, but I still feel that I have to go to Shanxi to investigate the facts that this word is used in Shanxi. Only by making up can we feel at ease.” Cheng Rong went north in September 2019 to Gaoping, Shanxi.
At this time, there is not much time until the revised version of the 12th edition of Xinhua Dictionary is finished.
"Finally, during the field investigation, I saw an official approval document for the change of place name, which reads'Agree to change the name of Chen Fu Town to Chen District Town'. I also found relevant entries in a local name record and followed the official approval document. It happened to be able to correspond. At this time, I finally figured out the ins and outs of this place name change." Cheng Rong told reporters that it was not until the end of October 2019 that a more comprehensive revision of this word was finalized.
Field investigations like Cheng Rong have been countless in the process of many revisions of the "Xinhua Dictionary".
She said, "Insisting on actual investigations and using facts as the basis is the tradition of the Institute of Linguistics for academic research and editing of dictionaries. In the revision of the "Xinhua Dictionary", this tradition was also inherited. In order to be in the 11th and 12th We have further processed the use of place names. We have insisted on actual investigations for more than ten years. We once went to Heihe, Heilongjiang to investigate the writing of Aihui Town, and to the south to Binzhou Town, Binyang County, Guangxi, we investigated the pronunciation and spirit of mèn Tang Village. The writing and pronunciation of (dǎng) Village in Daxu Town, Chuan County, the writing and pronunciation of Pā cáo (pā cáo) town in Cangnan County, Zhejiang Province in the east, and the writing and pronunciation of (bié) Tibetan Town in Jishishan County, Gansu Province in the west. And the pronunciation... Almost all over the country, and most of them go down to the most basic township villages to investigate."
The interpretation of "punch card" has been discussed more than ten times
An important reason why "Xinhua Dictionary" is enduring is to keep pace with the times.
In the revision of each edition, some new words will be added as appropriate.
How to "define" a new word?
Cheng Rong explained that everyone’s understanding of new words may not be exactly the same. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively examine the actual corpus, first come up with a draft interpretation, and use many use cases to verify whether this interpretation can cover the more stable main usage. In the revision group After the collective discussion has basically reached a consensus, it will go outside the group to solicit opinions, and finally the host will confirm it.
For example, the entry "punch card" added this time.
“Checking in” at work is more common, and most people know about “checking in” at a certain scenic spot, but colleagues who have children at home suggest that there are various ways to check in in learning courses.
How do these meanings establish meanings?
Which meanings can be summarized under one meaning?
It's all small but important issues.
Cheng Rong recalled that only the word "punch card" had been discussed and revised more than ten times.
"After the meaning and usage of a new word to be supplemented is clarified, there is still a problem of how to explain it accurately and concisely in a language suitable for a dictionary. Therefore, sometimes experts who are familiar with the dictionary are asked to discuss together and suggest amendments." Cheng Rong said that it is very simple to add a new word, but it is often very laborious to implement it in place.
From the first draft to the basic final draft, there are often repeated revisions, and it is not easy to form the final draft.
In the end, the interpretation of "punch card" was finalized.
In the 12th edition of "Xinhua Dictionary", the first meaning of "punch-in" is interpreted as "using a magnetic card or other means close to the machine to record commuting time"; the second meaning is "referring to the completion of learning, visiting and other activities together. "Record in a specific way", the matching examples use the typical and commonly used "ancient poetry recitation check in" and "check in forbidden city".
In fact, such discussions are happening all the time during the revision.
"Most of the interpretations and examples of each new word have had the experience of two or three plans at the beginning. After discussion in the group, try to form a more consistent tendency opinion first. If the opinions are not concentrated, ask the responsible editor or the experts in the institute. Opinions." Cheng Rong said that although there are "backups", as a revision group, he must work hard to conduct sufficient research and form a more mature draft of new entries, one plan or multiple plans, and attach relevant ones. Information, and then ask for opinions.
What kind of new words will be included in the "Xinhua Dictionary"?
Cheng Rong said that the dictionary selection has distinct characteristics. “Firstly, it is the observation and accumulation of new corpus, and then the selection is based on the basic requirements of a standardized dictionary and the characteristics of the Xinhua Dictionary itself.” Cheng Rong revealed that the selection of new words is mainly There are three main principles. One is universality, that is, the scope of use should be wide, and it should not be used only on the Internet or other limited areas without entering the daily life of the general public.
The second is stability, that is to say, the new words that are received need to withstand the test of time and have vitality, rather than a flash in the pan.
The third is normative, that is to say, it must conform to the laws of form and development of Chinese and Chinese characters.
Some difficult-to-check radical characters are added to "Stroke Index of Hard-to-Check Characters"
When you encounter a word you don't know, you usually first check the radical, and then find out which page the word is on based on the radical, and understand the pronunciation and meaning of the word.
This is the order in which most people use the Xinhua Dictionary to look up characters.
But for the lower grade pupils who are not familiar with the structure of Chinese characters and do not know which characters themselves are the radicals, it is already a challenge to recognize all the radicals.
"Once there were elementary school Chinese teachers and elementary school Chinese teachers and researchers who reported this problem to us. They said radical characters like dragon and black. Many elementary school students didn’t know that they were radicals, so they couldn’t look up characters." Cheng Rong explained. The problem was actually studied and considered when the 11th edition was revised, but it was quite tangled at the time, and a good solution was not available for the time being, so there was no change.
At the time of this revision, this issue was once again "put on the table."
"This time we specifically found relevant teachers, teachers and researchers to solicit opinions. Because as elementary school students, we did encounter difficulties in looking up the dictionary. But we must also consider not to mislead the elementary school students so that they think this is not a radical. After all, to search for new characters, you must first start with the radicals, and this habit should be cultivated." Cheng Rong said that under comprehensive consideration, this revision will include these radical characters in the "Index of Strokes of Difficult Characters", "This way It not only solves the problem that elementary school students have difficulty in checking radical characters, but also does not lead to the tendency of guiding children not to pay attention to learning and recognizing radicals of Chinese characters."
For the young readers of "Xinhua Dictionary", the efforts of the revision team go beyond this.
From the perspective of helping to guide primary school students to write Chinese characters correctly, this revision separates individual attached radicals. For example, the stroke order of the main radical "Niu" is "skew, horizontal, horizontal, vertical", and its attached radicals The stroke order of "Fang" is "skew, horizontal, vertical, and lift".
After the two are separated, the serial number remains the same, one after the other, the main radical "ox" has "plow, 犟", etc., and the attached radical "牜" has "mu, animal husbandry" and so on.
In the word "Duokaimen", the words "crow, peng" have been added to coordinate the processing of traditional and simplified characters...Although it is only a bit of change, it is enough to see the good intentions of the revision team.
Verify and update the "Area, Population, Capitals (Capitals) of Countries and Regions in the World", add new element words to the text and "Periodic Table", and absorb the latest research results of linguistics that have reached consensus in the academic community...every change Subject to authoritative information.
When it comes to the revision of the "Xinhua Dictionary," Cheng Rong said most about being cautious, serious, and professional.
"The "Xinhua Dictionary" has been loved by readers for decades. Many people use the "Xinhua Dictionary" as the standard authority to judge right or wrong when looking up the dictionary. As the editors of the "Xinhua Dictionary", we must always maintain and promote the language The fine tradition of the institute is guided by academic research. It treats every change seriously and rigorously, and handles every addition, deletion, modification, and adjustment of every word, so as to live up to everyone's trust in the "Xinhua Dictionary." Rong said.
When each edition is published, it is also the beginning of revision work for the next edition.
Cheng Rong said that the continuous revision and improvement of "Xinhua Dictionary" to keep pace with the times and better meet the needs of readers is one of the normalization tasks of the Language Institute. "After the new version of "Xinhua Dictionary" is published, we will continue to do more For future revisions and improvements, we will continue to maintain normalization in many aspects such as related research, research and data collection."
The Beijing News trainee reporter Yang Feifei