Chinese Dictionary Richer by Ten Thousand Words

The latest edition of the Chinese dictionary is richer by close to 10,000 words - "Bird's Nest", "Water Cube" and "SARS" are among the recent entrants.

They are among 10,000 new entries in the sixth edition of Cihai -- literally, "Sea of Words" -- which will give a snapshot of the Chinese language at the start of the 21st century, the Xinhua news agency reported.

"Bird's Nest", the iconic Olympic stadium in Beijing, has been found worthy of inclusion along with "Water Cube", the popular nickname for the aquatic centre built ahead of the 2008 Summer Games, according to Xinhua.

Cihai, sometimes referred to as a local equivalent of the Oxford English Dictionary, offers a condensed cultural history of China, reflecting the issues that have affected the nation in recent years.

"SARS", the acronym for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, has entered into the general vocabulary after the 2003 outbreak, initially covered up by the government, that led to the virtual shutdown of the country for weeks.

Other new entries include "international human rights law", "hearing system" and "three represents" -- a reference to the ideology of former president Jiang Zemin.

Cihai, which has 130,000 entries, has been published since 1936. The new five-volume edition is being published to celebrate the 60th anniversary on October 1 of the founding of communist China, Xinhua said.

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Source-AFP
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