English-Japanese / Japanese-English Dictionary of Computer and Data-Processing Terms [Hardcover]

Gene Ferber (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262061147 | ISBN-13: 978-0262061148 | Publication Date: February 1, 1989

Winner, 1989, category of Computer Science, Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc. With 10,000 entries, this dictionary is the most complete of its kind. It is a major contribution to more accurate sharing of scientific and technological information. The dictionary is unique in providing a romanized transcription for each of the 10,000 Japanese terms. It promotes clear oral communication, whether one is using purely Japanese words or terms that have been borrowed from English but are pronounced somewhat differently by the Japanese. Professional translators of Japanese, English-speaking engineers and computer and dataprocessing professionals dealing with Japanese products or companies, marketing executives, and journalists are among those who will find this dictionary indispensable for such uses as translating an instruction manual, composing a telex message, ordering materials and parts, looking up a word during a face to face conversation, or interviewing executives in a technical field. The Japanese English section lists the romanized Japanese words (Romaji) according to the Roman rather than the Japanese alphabet, thus simplifying reference by Western speakers of Japanese as well as by native speakers of Japanese who are familiar with both Roman script and alphabetical order. The dictionary also aids Western recognition and reproduction of katakana characters (Japanese characters used to represent the sounds of borrowed foreign words) by providing the exact romanized transcriptions of words borrowed from English and expressed in katakana form instead of keeping such words in their original forms. The word "computer" for instance, may be translated indigenously as "keisanki," but the borrowed English "konpyuta" is also widely used. The dictionary gives the romanizations of both, to facilitate verbal communication; it also gives, for readers of Japanese, the ideogrammic representations of both words.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: Japanese

About the Author

Gene Ferber majored in Japanese language and culture at London University and has served a number of clients including AT&T the Japan Travel Bureau, and Toshiba International as a translator and an interpreter.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 470 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (February 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262061147
• ISBN-13: 978-0262061148
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,494,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Hardcore Computer Science Dictionary, August 8, 2001

By 

Elijah Zupancic (Kawasaki, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: English-Japanese / Japanese-English Dictionary of Computer and Data-Processing Terms (Hardcover)

The format of this book is excellent. Words are easy to look up and everything is referenced nicely. However, the choice of words were not quite what I expected from the title. I think the book was a little heavy on the data-processing and hardware terms. If you are looking for a dictionary to help you read Japanese software documentation or use Japanese software. However, I feel that this book would be a useful addition to any technical translators library.

5.0 out of 5 stars What a fantastic deal, April 5, 2011

By 

nick15520 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: English-Japanese / Japanese-English Dictionary of Computer and Data-Processing Terms (Hardcover)

I needed this book for some work I was doing. I was so happy to get it for the price I did, about 80% off. It doesn not get too much better than that.

4.0 out of 5 stars Very much dated, but very thorough, May 27, 2008

By 

Coder (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: English-Japanese / Japanese-English Dictionary of Computer and Data-Processing Terms (Hardcover)

Unfortunately this is quite an old dictionary, and there are few Japanese-English "computer dictionaries" out there at all.

First, be forewarned! There is no Internet or World Wide Web terminology here! This book predates the Web and at the time it was written, the Internet was still an experiment used by a few organizations. You won't find terms like "email", "web page", "browser" -- the words *most* people are probably looking for.

However, if you are in a technical field, this book is extremely thorough regarding computers, software, and technology up to its time, so if you plan on communicating in detail with Japanese engineers and business people regarding data processing, computers, engineering, etc., this book is excellent. It gets so high-tech here that some of the terms, I didn't even know about them or what they meant in *English* before I read this book!

Yes, I would even recommend "reading" this book over a period of time.

The font and format are excellent, and the paper and binding are top-quality, making it much easier on the eyes than the average dictionary. Unlike other language dictionaries, it does not present a multitude of possible related meanings...but that is how it manages to squeeze so many entries (terms) in the book while keeping enough whitespace to ease the reading.

I just wish the publishers made an "addendum" to this book to bring it into the 21st century (email, web browsing, modern OSes, etc., consumer-type software terms). It royally stinks that I have to live with an old dictionary (and use my own version of "Janglish" with my Japanese friends), because I cannot justify $150-250 for one of the only 2 new Computer-Internet dictionaries that are out there!