November 20, 1991
A kanji dictionary is similar to a thesaurus. Words are grouped together by a shared element of meaning: objects, ideas, processes, abstractions. Both contain cross-references which enable you to find where a word you already know is categorized and examine words with similar meanings.
A phonetic dictionary orders language sequentially, keyed on character. In order to access a word, you must know the sequence of the 26 keys, and the spelling of the word. In this alphabetical arrangement, no semantic relationship exists between adjacent words. The dictionary provides access to words divorced from their meanings.
Dictionaries of Japanese words are also arranged sequentially in the order of the Japanese phonetic alphabet--which, of course, is not alphabetical (alpha beta a-b-c), but a-i-u-e-o. Learning the new sequence of dictionary keys is almost as difficult as learning new readings for arabic numerals. Some bilingual dictionaries arrange Japanese words in alphabetical order; but it is good practice to get a dictionary that arranges the words in Japanese order.
One great test is at the train station, looking up your destination city on the fare board. I quickly learned that Beppu was not listed near the beginning (as it would be in the world of ABCs), but listed near the middle, under "he", of which "be" is a variant.
Other notes of the day
Modelling creates an image of the world, mirroring reality. Natural language is representational. We model the world around us with our words. A is B; A acts on B; A modifies B; A contrasts B.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
November 20, 1991
Share Your Thoughts
Kanji: an early graphical user interface.