Issues in Compiling Shengcibiao
(‘Glossary’)
Liwei Gao
DLIFLC
I.
Importance of an Effective Shengcibiao
(‘glossary’)
•
Facilitate an accurate understanding of the
word meaning in target language (TL)
Facilitate rapid acquisition of new words
Facilitate accurate learning of TL grammar
Facilitate correct use of TL
•
•
•
II. Aspects of an Effective Shengcibiao
(‘glossary’)
• Part of speech （PoC）or no PoC?
PoC helps students produce grammatical
sentences
*下课以后，先我锻炼身体，然后吃晚饭。
*早饭我吃了鸡蛋、面包，还牛奶。
* 我喜欢中国饭，也我喜欢日本饭。
• PoC may have to be decided in context
(multiple PoC’s of one word): relatively poor
Chinese morphology (inflectional)
e.g., i. 留得青山在，不怕没柴烧。(v.)
ii. 事情发生在去年。 (prep.)
iii. 风在刮，雨在下。(adv.)
iv. 钱我给他了。(v.)
v. 狗给人偷了。(prep.)
vi. 护士给他量了量血压。(prep.)
• PoC is not always decided based on literal
meaning in English.
e.g., i. 两国之间建立起了牢不可破的友谊。
(之间 means ‘among, between’, but it’s
a noun here, not a preposition)
ii. 以前王老师在大庆工作过。
（以前means ‘before’, but it’s a noun
here, not an adverb.)
• Example usages or no example usages?
(should be included to minimize negative first
language transfer)
* 他的目很大。
* 我们去了一家很吃香的饭店吃饭。
* 我弟弟有樱桃小嘴。
* 我朋友上周末参观了我。
* 我每天晚上学习三个半点钟。
• Phrases to be included or not?
*中国的全面积很大。（总面积）
* 我爸爸不喝滴酒。（滴酒不沾）
* 独立日我们邀请了亲朋来我们家烤肉。
（亲朋好友）
* 飞机场工作人帮我们找到了我们的行李。
（工作人员）
• Grammar note or no grammar note?
*他去圣荷西飞机场见面他的朋友了。
*我还不知道如果我今年秋天要去上大
学。
* 李大为回去老家了。
* 他是韩国人和他也是美国人。
* 毕业以后我打算结婚我的女朋友。
• Many or one definition?
-- Too many definitions can be confusing,
particularly to beginners;
-- If more than one definition has to be
provided, the order of definitions given should
not be random.
• English translation
-- Should match TL as closely as possible, not
only in terms of general meaning but also
grammatical features (e.g., transitivity),
domain of usage, etc. E.g., 见面：meet/see
someone 漂亮：beautiful
-- For non-beginners, definition in TL
should be given. E.g., 感到：觉得
• Proper nouns (PN) listed separately or not?
-- Students, particularly beginners, often have
a hard time recognizing PN’s.
-- Listing PN’s separately can give students the
wrong impression that they are unimportant.
-- Teaching PN’s explicitly not only enlarges
students’ vocab but teach them culture
at the same time.
• Pinyin transcription standardized or not?
-- Spacing
e.g.， 成语, 短语,专有名词: shǒu zhū dài tù,
nào yìjiàn, Wǔsì Qīngnián Jié
-- Capitalization
e.g.,专有名词： Xiānggǎng Zhōngwén Dàxué
-- Tone marking
e.g., neutral tone, tone sandhi: xiǎojiě
(not xiǎojie/xiáojiě), yīdìng (not yídìng)
III. Examples of an Ideal Shengcibiao
签字/簽字 qiānzì n./v. (v.o.) signature;
to sign one’s name 签字后合同就生效了。
2. 和 hé conj. and (not connecting clauses)
(跟；与) 小王和小张都在这儿工作。
3. 如果 conj. if (not meaning ‘whether’) (要
是) 如果今天不下雨，我们去郊外野餐吧？
1.
IV. Concluding remarks
-- Thoroughly annotated shēngcíbiǎo helps
students in their ACCURATE mastery and use
of TL, which in turn helps improve their
proficiency
-- Over-simplified shēngcíbiǎo may have
unfavorable consequences (e.g., grammatical
errors associated with L1 interference.)
V. Selected references
Li, Charles, & Sandra Thompson. Mandarin Chinese: a
functional reference grammar. Berkely: University of
California Press.
Wang, Jenney. 2003. Word structure and how it
matters in grammar. Paper presented at the annual
CLTA/ACTFL meeting.
Zha, Xinha. 2007. Can a Chinese double-syllable verbobject structure followed by another? Paper
presented at the annual CLTA/ACTFL meeting.
谢谢！