Project:ECCE-Distinctive-Features

Note: this introductory material is based on the 2010 portable print edition of ABC E-C/C-E. The current (2017) software editions of E-C and C-E contain more entries than that book, and have various other differences. This wiki page should be updated accordingly...

1. In this student-oriented dictionary, the two sections, English-Chinese (E-C) and Chinese-English (C-E), together comprise a self-contained volume in which every Chinese and English expression used in a definition or example of usage can be found as a headword or sub-headword.
2. All Chinese definitions, example phrases, and sentences appear in both Pinyin and characters.
3. In comparison with similar works, both sections contain more of everything---more entries (headwords and sub-headwords), more illustrative or explanatory material, and more special features (noted below). The E-C section contains 29,670 entries (18,016 main entries and 11,654 sub-entries). The C-E section contains 37,952 entries (4,644 monosyllabic and 33,308 polysyllabic entries). Counting numbered definitions as distinct entries, E-C/C-E contains 98,627 entries altogether.
4. In E-C Sections IV and V we present the novel format PY/HZ/ENG, i.e., Pinyin on top, Hanzi in the middle, and English on the bottom. (This format was prompted by the bopomofo/HZ format extensively used in Taiwan and the alternative formats PY/HZ and HZ/PY introduced in some PRC elementary school textbooks.)
5. As a special aid for student learners of Chinese and English, E-C/C-E features graded word lists prepared by PRC specialists in teaching the two languages. (See E-C Appendix VI} and C-E Appendix VII.)
6. For all Pinyin transcriptions, changes in tone are indicated while preserving the original tone (e.g., suọ̌yǐ, normally written suǒyǐ and pronounced suóyǐ). In this way, E-C/C-E, uniquely among dictionaries, reduces the burden placed on students in coping with tonal changes. Details are in C-E Section III, Explanatory Notes and Examples, Note 2.
7. The E-C/C-E Dictionary carries forward the many special features of the ABC series of dictionaries (e.g., ABC Chinese-English Dictionary and ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary), chief among them the strict alphabetic order of the Pinyin entries as by far the simplest and fastest way to look up a term whose pronunciation is known.
8. Two websites provide further information about E-C/C-E (including software versions) and other works which comprise the ABC Chinese Dictionary Series, and enable dictionary users to submit comments, questions, and suggestions for corrections and improvements: www.chinesestudies.hawaii.edu/abc and wenlin.com/abc. The dictionary project also has the email addresses abcdict@hawaii.edu and abc@wenlin.com.