The Pinyin Chinese-English Dictionary [Paperback]

Beijing Foreign Language Institute (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471867969 | ISBN-13: 978-0471867968 | Publication Date: March 23, 1982 | Edition: 1

This comprehensive dictionary contains over 6,000 single-character entries, including characters with variant tones. There are over 50,000 compound-character entries and over 70,000 compound words, set phrases and examples - all with Pinyin Romanization. Apart from everyday words and expressions, a number of common classical Chinese words, dialect words, four-character idioms, proverbs and common scientific expressions from both the natural and social sciences are included. The emphasis is on the use of modern Chinese, while modern English forms the basis of all English translations. Words and expressions have been defined clearly and precisely with practical examples. All entries are arranged according to Chinese Phonetic alphabetical order. A Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Index and Radical Index are located before the text of the dictionary for the convenience of the user. There are ten appendices, including a list of the original complex forms of Chinese characters and their simplified versions, the scheme for the Chinese phonetic alphabet, lists of countries, regions, capitals, currencies, weights and measures, chemical elements in Chinese and English and a brief Chinese chronology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 976 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience; 1 edition (March 23, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471867969
• ISBN-13: 978-0471867968
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,320,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than Oxford (Pinyin users only), May 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pinyin Chinese-English Dictionary (Paperback)

Having studied Chinese for 5 years using the same Oxford dictionary, I thought I could find no better resource in my studies. However, I stumbled upon this dictionary at my university library and have fallen in love. It provides the pinyin accessibility as well as a good radical index for those characters you can't pronounce. It also provides a nice selection of variants with each character - and it's a paperback!

My only complaints are the price (a bit high) and the tiny print. However, I've yet to see a decent Chinese-English dictionary without tiny print.

5.0 out of 5 stars Larger Print!, January 19, 2012

By 

Varda Whitebird - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pinyin Chinese English Dictionary (English and Mandarin Chinese Edition) (Hardcover)

The Pinyin Chinese-English Dictionary is by far the easiest to use. The problem with the paperback version is the small and in-distinct print. I wondered if the hardback would have larger print. It does. The print is about twice the size of the paperback. For me it has made all the difference and was well worth the price. The printing is still not the best, but it's far easier to make out than the paperback version. This combined with a 4X dome magnifier and I'm good to go!

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My complaint about Amazon.com, July 24, 2007

By 

Louis B. Schwartz "LBS" (U.S.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pinyin Chinese-English Dictionary (Paperback)

Note: Because I am unable to have my complaints addressed by [...], I will continue to post the following note on Amazon.com:

I just received the very late e-mail saying that the
order I placed on JUNE 6, 2007 cannot be filled until OCTOBER 4,
2007. This is the most irresponsible customer service that I have
had in a very long time. Not only did you fail to correspond with
me for nearly two months, you now have the audacity to suggest that
the earliest you can deliver this book is the fall of this year!?
This irresponsible (and flippant) response is breathtaking in its
cavalier attitude, where you say "either accept a delivery date four
months late or we will cancel your order". You should have
responded within a week at the most that you were having difficulty
obtaining the book so that I would no longer rely on you to get it
to me and I could then look elsewhere for it.
>
> I would suggest that you should send me the book that you promised
(and I believe I already paid for) ASAP. You could do a Google
search and find a copy (perhaps on your own site!) or you could call
the publisher in China and (at your expense) have them FED-X it to
you for delivery to me. But the one thing you shouldn't do is send
such a cavelier e-mail to me six weeks after I order from you and at
least several weeks after I had expected delivery. This is a rich
example of the incompetent arrogance of Amazon; one that will be
displayed prominently on the internet for some time to come if you
are not able to remedy this situation soon.

To add insult to injury, when I responded to the e-mail message, I recieved a conflicting e-mail from a "Mohan". Typically, I could not communicate back to him (or her) and was left to my own devices in the Amazon.