Forums about proz.com » Translation news »
Scholars say English-language abbreviations are not OK for Chinese dictionary

This discussion belongs to Translation news » "Scholars say English-language abbreviations are not OK for Chinese dictionary ".
You can see the translation news page and participate in this discussion from there.

Teplocteur
Teplocteur  Identity Verified
Local time: 08:19
English to Chinese
+ ...
look from another point of view Aug 31, 2012

Will English speaking countries include Chinese characters as entries in their English dictionaries? How will the citizens feel if their countries do the same? Will it violate the law of the countries?
 
Ambrose Li
Ambrose Li  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 20:19
English
+ ...
That’s not the same Sep 4, 2012

But that’s not the same because Chinese characters simply aren’t used in English. Greek characters are, in certain specialized domains (e.g., chemistry), and should Greek letters be banned from the English language? No.
 
liz askew
liz askew  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:19
Member (2007)
French to English
+ ...
Fair enough Sep 5, 2012

At least everybody will be reading from the same page then!
 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 08:19
Chinese to English
"threatens the Chinese language" Sep 5, 2012

Oh, please. I don't think there's any danger that Chinese people are going to start talking in weird acronyms. Unless they're consultants, in which case you can't stop them.

Does it say something about me that the acronym I use the most is AAZ - meaning to split the bill?
 
Filipa Plant dos Santos
Filipa Plant dos Santos  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 01:19
Portuguese to English
No threat! Sep 12, 2012

But a dictionary is for looking up words that you don't know the meaning of or don't know how to spell. It doesn't 'approve' or 'disapprove' as such (I know, I know, this is a huge issue....) but if you see a word or abbreviation that is commonly used, and it's not in your dictionary (!), that makes the dictionary almost unusable! This is something that happens A LOT with Portuguese dictionaries. There are words that are commonly used, in the street, on TV, which don't appear in dictionaries. Wh... See more
But a dictionary is for looking up words that you don't know the meaning of or don't know how to spell. It doesn't 'approve' or 'disapprove' as such (I know, I know, this is a huge issue....) but if you see a word or abbreviation that is commonly used, and it's not in your dictionary (!), that makes the dictionary almost unusable! This is something that happens A LOT with Portuguese dictionaries. There are words that are commonly used, in the street, on TV, which don't appear in dictionaries. When I brought this up with some Portuguese teacher friends, they said 'quite right, those words are incorrect, they do not follow the rules of Portuguese, or they're abbreviations or slang - they shouldn't be in the dictionary'.
Well, OK, but that makes the dictionary very unreliable, and somewhat pointless. ▲ Collapse
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Jared Tabor[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Scholars say English-language abbreviations are not OK for Chinese dictionary







Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »
CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »