2.4 Simplified and Traditional characters
The Chinese government simplified hundreds of Chinese characters in mid-1950s by reducing the
numbers of their strokes. Such simplified characters are called 简体字 jiǎntǐzì. This dictionary
uses jiantizi. Traditional versions (also known as complicated characters) are still used in Taiwan
and Hong Kong, and they are shown where applicable, e.g.:
xué 学 Trad 學
3 VOCABULARY
3.1 Words in this Dictionary
This dictionary gives detailed description of the 5,000 words prescribed for Level 1 to Level 6 of
the new chinese Proficiency Test (New HSK 新汉语水平考试 Xīn Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì),
the Chinese government-sponsored, international standardized test. Over 1,000 more words are
covered, to further develop learners’ vocabulary power.
3.2 The importance of chinese characters
Most Chinese words are made up of two or more characters; the component characters usually
determine the meaning of words. It is widely accepted by teachers and students of Chinese that in
order to understand the meaning of a word, one should first of all learn the meanings of its
component characters. This dictionary treats Chinese characters as individual items and gives them
clear definitions, with the exception of a very few which are not used alone in Modern Chinese.
3.3 Word-formation methods
Chinese words are very transparent, i.e. the way a word is formed tells a lot about its meaning.
Therefore it is very helpful to know the ways words are formed, as it facilitates understanding of
words and makes learning more interesting.
This dictionary analyzes word-formation methods of headwords, whenever it is practical to do so.
We recognize five methods of word-formation.
compounding (shortened to “comp”): the components of a word are complementary to each other in
meaning and are of the same status. For example:
