The Making of the First Chinese-English Dictionary
Robert Morrison’s Dictionary of the Chinese Language in Three Parts (1815-1823)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3955199 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Huiling Yang (0009-0008-4795-8570, Beijing Foreign Studies University), Hui‐ling Yang (Beijing Foreign Studies University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 2-3 |
| Pages | 299-322 |
| Publication date | 2014-10-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Historiographia Linguistica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0302-5160 • E-ISSN: 1569-9781 |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1075/hl.41.2-3.04yan |
| OpenAlex | W2058233892 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 3 |
The first printed Chinese-English dictionary was the Dictionary of the Chinese Language in Three Parts compiled by Robert Morrison (1782-1834) published between 1815 and 1823. Two hundred years later it is still in use. This paper traces the tradition of missionary bilingual lexicography in China from its origins down to Morrison. While early manuscript bilingual dictionaries solved the problems of transliteration, alphabetical arrangement of Chinese entries, definition and grammatical information, Morrison improved the transliteration system which he had inherited, invented a new index system matching alphabetically arranged transliterations with Chinese characters, and provided a large number of citations from Chinese classics and popular contemporary Chinese books. Morrison's lexicographical legacy is reflected in the fact that his transliteration was adopted as the basis for the Wade-Giles system and that the macrostructure and microstructure of his dictionary became a model for Samuel Wells Williams' (1812-1884) Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language 漢英韻府 (1874, re-edited until 1909) and Henry Allen Giles' (1845-1935) Chinese-English Dictionary (1892, last ed., 1972
Art · China · Chinese language · Lexicography · Linguistics · Literature · Natural language processing · Syllabic verse · Transliteration · Writing system · Computer Science · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Lexicography and Language Studies · Philosophy · Translation Studies and Practices
Robert Morrison’s (1782–1834) dual role as English and Chinese educator reflected in language teaching practices at the Malacca Anglo-Chinese College
Le Traité chinois des particules et des principaux termes de grammaire
A remarkable compilation shift
From Mandarin to Cantonese Lexicography
The encounter of English and Chinese lexicographical traditions
Writing Confucian History in an Indian Language
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |