Lexicographical Terminology
First, it will be useful to introduce some key Japanese terms for dictionaries and collation (ordering of entry words) that the following discussion will be using.
The Wiktionary uses English dictionary to define a few synonyms including lexicon, wordbook, vocabulary, thesaurus, and translating dictionary. It also uses dictionary to translate six Japanese words.
- jiten (辞典, lit. "word reference-work") "dictionary; lexicon; glossary"
- jiten (字典, lit. "character reference-work") "character dictionary"
- jiten (事典, lit. "thing reference-work") "encyclopedia, encyclopedic dictionary"
- jisho (辞書, lit. "word book") "dictionary; wordbook; lexicon; glossary"
- jisho (字書, lit. "character book") "character dictionary; dictionary"
- jibiki (字引, lit. "character pull/arrange) "character dictionary; dictionary"
The first three homophonous jiten compounds of ten (典 "reference work; dictionary; classic; canon; model") are Chinese loanwords. However, Chinese distinguishes their pronunciations, avoiding the potential ambiguities of Sino-Japanese jiten: cídiǎn 辞典 "word dictionary", zìdiǎn 字典 "character dictionary", or shìdiǎn 事典 "encyclopedia". The usual Japanese word for "encyclopedia" is hyakka jiten (百科事典 "100/many subject dictionary", see Japanese encyclopedias). The jiten, jisho, and jibiki terms for dictionaries of kanji "Chinese characters" share the element ji (字 "character; graph; letter; script; writing").
Lexicographical collation is straightforward for romanized languages, and most dictionaries enter words in alphabetical order. In contrast, the Japanese writing system, with kanji, hiragana, and katakana, creates complications for dictionary ordering. University of Arizona professor Don C. Bailey (1960:4) discusses how Japanese lexicography differentiates semantic, graphic, and phonetic collation methods, namely:
- bunruitai (分類体 "classification form") "semantic collation; grouping words with similar meanings; thesaurus-like organization"
- jikeibiki (字形引き "character shape arrangement") "logographic collation; organizing kanji dictionaries by radicals (recurring graphic components)"
- onbiki (音引き "pronunciation arrangement") "phonetic collation; organization by the Japanese syllabary in iroha or gojūon ordering"
In general, jikeibiki organization is for a readers' dictionary, bunruitai for a writers' dictionary, and onbiki for both types.
The Japanese writing system originated with the introduction of Chinese characters around the 4th century CE, and early Japanese dictionaries developed from Chinese dictionaries circa the 7th century CE. These three Japanese collation systems were borrowed and adapted from Chinese character dictionaries.
The first, and oldest, Chinese system of collation by semantic field (for instance, "birds" or "fish") dates back to the ca. 3rd century BCE Erya. Only a few dictionaries like the Xiao Erya, Guangya, and Piya used semantic collation. This system is inefficient looking up a word unless the dictionary user already knows its meaning; imagine, for example, using Roget's Thesaurus without an alphabetical index. Bunruitai collation is obsolete among modern Japanese dictionaries, with the exception of thesauri.
The second system of dictionary collation by radicals (Chinese bushou, Japanese bushu, 部首 "section headers") originated with the 121 CE Shuowen Jiezi. Japanese dictionaries followed the Chinese example of reducing the number of radicals: original 540 (Shuowen Jiezi), adjusted 542 (Yupian), condensed 214 (Zihui, Kangxi Zidian), and abridged 189 (Xinhua Zidian). Japanese jikeibiki collation by radical and stroke ordering is standard for character dictionaries, and does not require a user to know the meaning or pronunciation beforehand.
The third Chinese system of ordering by pronunciation is evident in a rime dictionary, which collates the characters by tone and rime. The 601 CE Qieyun is the oldest extant Chinese dictionary collated by pronunciation, and was expanded in the Guangyun and Jiyun. The shortcoming of this unwieldy tone-rime method is that a user needs to know, or guess, the pronunciation of a character in order to look it up. The modern Chinese dictionary improvement is alphabetical collation by pinyin romanization. Japanese onbiki dictionaries historically changed from poetic iroha to practical gojūon ordering. Compare the former pangram poem (i-ro-ha-ni-ho-he-to, chi-ri-nu-ru-wo, … "Although flowers glow with color, They are quickly fallen, …) with the latter "fifty sounds" 10 consonants by 5 vowels grid (a-i-u-e-o, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko, …). m
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