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New dictionary reflects social changes
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CNTV, July 14, 2011
The 11th edition of China's most authoritative Chinese language Dictionary, the Xinhua Dictionary, was released globally early this month. The latest edition has compiled a wealth of new words that highlight the social changes in China over the past decade.
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The 11th edition of China's most authoritative Chinese language Dictionary, the Xinhua Dictionary, was released globally early this month. |
More than 8-hundred newly-emerged words have been added to the latest edition of the Xinhua Dictionary. The new entries range from Internet words, rarely-seen family names, science terms, social innuendos and some that specifically define people's livelihoods.
Such fine examples include "Xueli Men", or "Diploma Gate," which refers to a scandal of using counterfeit academic degrees in exchange for official positions.
This usage developed from the U.S.'s 1970s "Watergate Scandal". In the same way Americans place the word "gate" after a word to label the latest scandal, Chinese put various words in front of the character "Men", the Chinese word for gate.
Such cases are also "Fang Nu" and "Che Nu", with the character "Nu" referring to "Slave", meaning people have to work like a dog to make money, in order to pay their apartments or cars on instalments when prices soar.
Meanwhile, words like "He Zuo She," or "Co-operative Society" are removed from the dictionary, as they have become rarely used or outdated.
The Xinhua Dictionary is regarded as one the country's most prestigious reference books, and has a far-reaching influence in learning the Chinese language.
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