Pleco Chinese Dictionary Instruction Manual : NWP English-Chinese Pinyin Dictionary

English-Chinese Pinyin Dictionary

最新使用英汉拼音词典

Chief Compiler: Qian Suwen
Deputy Chief Compilers: Wang Minruo, Guo Yuling
Compilers: Liang Wenxuan, Wang Fengying, Sun Xiaofen, Liu Baofen, Dai Xuemei, Sha Jie, Zhang Ruoying, Liu Manlan
Edited by: Meng Fanling
Proofread by: Yang Tingxuan, Zhang Minjie, Feng Qionghuan, Gao Xiaohong

Copyright © 2001 New World Press, Beijing, China

 

Table of Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Guide to the Use of the Dictionary
  3. Abbreviations

 

Preface

This dictionary has been especially prepared to accompany English speakers in their study of Chinese. It contains 23,000 entries commonly used in modern speech and communication. Each entry is based on everyday speech—concentrating on additional words that complement the respective entry, functional sentence usage, and a clear explanation of varying usages of a single word in English and Chinese. All Chinese characters are followed by Chinese pinyin phonetics so that the reader can pronounce the words and sentences correctly. Moreover, to help the reader grasp the usage of measure words and Chinese pinyin, the book has been especially arranged to inclued several appendices, such as “Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet,"“Chinese(Standard Modern Chinese Language) Speech Sounds,"“A Comparative Chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet and the Chinese Pinyin Alphabet,"“Table of Measure Words,"etc.

Some compilers of the 1988 edition of The English-Chinese Pinyin Pocket Dictionary have taken part in compilation of this dictionary. The previously mentioned dictionary is widely accepted locally and internationally with several printings. This revised edition is the result of an expansion of The English-Chinese Pinyin Pocket Dictionary.

The compiling team of this dictionary wishes to express thanks to Mr. Lin Debin of China Today for his editing and approval.

--Compilers

 

Guide to the Use of the Dictionary

1. Each entry consists of an English word, its part of speech, corresponding Chinese meaning(s), pinyin, explanations, related phrases, usage and / or examples.

2. Homonyms are listed as separate entries and numbers are given at the upper right hand corners:

bank¹ 河岸 hé'àn
bank² 银行 yínháng

3. When a word has several meanings, only basic meanings are given, marked with 1, 2 … to distinguish the different meanings and explanations:

angle n. 1.角 2.角度; 观点

4. Different parts of speech are included in the same entry:

handle n. 柄; 把手
v. 1.摸; 拿 2.处理

5. Derivations and compound words are listed in this dictionary. Those entries that are seldom used or carry varying definitions are listed separately.

6. General idioms and phrases are listed after the entries. A“ // "is used to separate each idiom or phrase:

now ad. 现在 // just ~ 刚才

7. The pinyin system is based on “The Basic Rules of the Pinyin System" adopted by the Chinese Pinyin and Defining Commission of China. Changes in the tones of the words 一, 不 are indicated. For example：

不是 búshì, 不行 bùxíng.

Unstressed syllables are not marked with tones.

8. The usages of symbols are as follows：

  1. ~ represents the word of each entry.
  2. : appears before an example.
  3. ; is used to separate different explanations of equal meanings.
  4. = expresses equal meanings.
  5. * precedes explanations.
  6. ( ) quotes possible alternative choices.
  7. / separates different examples.
  8. ... is an omission mark.
  9. - is a link symbol.
  10. // appears before an idiom, phrase or word group.

 

Abbreviations

  1. n. noun 名词 míngci
  2. pron. pronoun 代词 dàicí
  3. v. verb 动词 dòngcí
  4. ɑ. adjective 形容词 xíngróngcí
  5. ad. adverb 副词 fùcí
  6. conj. conjunction 连词 liáncí
  7. prep. preposition 介词 jiècí
  8. aux.v. auxiliary verb 助动词 zhùdòngcí
  9. num. numeral 数词 shùcí
  10. sb. somebody 某人 mǒurén
  11. sth. something 某事 mǒushì
  12. & and 和 hé

 

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