Project:ECCE Graded Word Lists
Chinese Word Lists
Chinese grades {A} through {D} are adapted from HSK Cíyǔ Yòngfǎ Xiángjiě : HSK词语用法详解 : A Guide to the Usage of HSK Vocabulary, edited by Huáng Nánsōng 黄南松 and Sūn Déjīn 孙德津 (Beijing: Beijing Language and Cultural Press, 1998). The contents comprise 8,822 items classified in four grade levels, 甲级 {A} 1,033; 乙级 {B} 2,018; 丙级 {C} 2,202; and 丁级 {D} 3,569, in order of increasingly advanced language level. HSK stands for Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì 汉语水平考试, Test of Chinese-language Ability. Grades {E} and {F} are explained below.
English Word Lists
English grades {A} through {D} are adapted from Dàxué Yīngyǔ Jiàoxué Dàgāng Cíhuìbiǎo : 大学英语教学大纲词汇表 : Word List for University English Teaching Programs, by Dàxué Yīngyǔ Jiàoxué Dàgāng Cíbiǎo Xiūdìng Gōngzuòzǔ 大学英语教学大纲词表修订工作组, Word List Revision Work Group for University English Teaching Programs. Shanghai: Shànghǎi Wàiyǔ Jiàoyù Chūbǎnshè, 2000. The contents comprise 6,500 terms classifed in four grade levels: {A} 1,800; {B} 2,400; {C} 1,300; and {D} 1,000. Grades {E} and {F} are explained below.
- Ogden Basic English {BE} Basic English: 850 terms first presented in Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules of Grammar, by Charles K. Ogden. London: Paul Treber, 1930.
Grades {E} and {F}, Chinese or English
Grade {E} indicates words that were chosen for inclusion in the portable book edition of the ABC English-Chinese/Chinese-English Dictionary, even though they were not in grades {A} through {D}. All words in grades {A} through {D}, both Chinese and English, are also included in that portable dictionary.
Grade {F} indicates some words that were considered for inclusion in the same book, but were excluded in order to keep it from becoming too large.
In addition to size, one of the factors that influenced the choice of which words to include in the portable dictionary was the principle of self-containment: any word used in a definition or example sentence must also have an entry in which it occurs as the headword. Thus, for example, if the word “acorn” had an entry in the English-Chinese side, with the definition “xiàngzǐ 橡子”, then the word “xiàngzǐ 橡子” must have an entry in the Chinese-English side. In unabridged editions of the dictionary, including this electronic edition published with Wenlin, of course there are many entries without any grade level indication.
