Specialized dictionaries

If I already have the Hanyu Da Cidian, do the other specialized dictionaries go much further in explaining a term. I am thinking about the Gu Hanyu da Cidian and/or the Students Dict Classical/Medieval or possibly the Dictionary of Chinese proverbs and the Duogongnerng Chengyu Cidian. However, I am not sure whether their added value is worth the purchase price.
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Gu Hanyu Da Cidian uses much (though not all) of the same data as HYDCD, so the benefits to that one are limited. The others provide different sorts of info - SDCMC is particularly good at capturing the subtleties of translating old Chinese terms into English (kind of like having a revered Chinese Classics scholar looking over your shoulder), Yanyu Cidian and Duogongneng Chengyu Cidian are more about different types of information - HYDCD is amazing for what it is, but it pretty much confines its scope to definitions + historical usage and doesn't try to explain the proper modern usage of a word or the story behind it or whatever.

Best way to get a better idea about this would be to download + browse the demo versions of these dictionaries. (go into Add-ons, go into the dictionary detail page, tap on the button to download the demo, then tap Browse)
 

Wan

榜眼
The 汉语大词典 is an extensive dictionary with tons of examples, but many are really not that useful unless you have a good base in 文言文. It usually provides a very brief explanation in the form of a synonym or two, plus said examples.
The others you mentioned are different dictionaries for different purposes.
The student's dictionary of classical /medieval Chinese will only be of use if you're interested in 古音韵学, and if you're reading texts from the 汉 to 唐 dynasties. That being said, it's a highly specialised and very, very good dictionary. Only most people won't need it.
The GHYDCD is, as its name suggests, only interesting for people into classical Chinese. It is much broader than the kroll (student's..), but you cannot be sure the definitions are accurate for the time your text was written in (unless you cross check in concordances).
The ABC proverbs is solid, but let's face it: How often are you looking up proverbs? It's Chinese - English which is very useful for many people. Many of the entries will be in the hdc and other dictionaries as well. It contains the figurative and literary meaning, and a note on its usage for each entry.
The DGNCYCD is Chinese - Chinese and covers only chengyu (unlike the ABC, which covers all sorts of proverbs). It sports an explanation, where the chengyu is found, and an example for every entry.


This post was written on a phone, it probably contains typos.
 
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