| Residential College | false |
| Status | 已發表Published |
| The order of writing in the compilation of the first Portuguese-Chinese dictionary | |
GABRIEL ANTUNES DE ARAUJO  ; Chenglin Zhu
| |
| 2024-08-28 | |
| Size of Audience | 50 |
| Type of Speaker | Presenter |
| Abstract | The Portuguese-Chinese Dictionary (circa 1579-584), the first of its kind between a European and a Chinese language, is a milestone in the history of lexicography. The dictionary manuscript was found in 1934 by D’Elia in the Jesuit Archives in Rome and published in 2001 in a facsimile edition (Ruggieri & Ricci, 2001). Here, as we intend to cover a gap in the literature, we aim to discuss the order of writing (Portuguese entries, phonetic transcription, Chinese characters, Italian additions, and further revision) in the compilation of the dictionary. We will also highlight the lexicographic work of its author, Michele Ruggieri SJ (Zhu & Araujo, 2024). We show that on folios A to C, a clerk wrote the Portuguese entries beforehand, based on Jerônimo Cardoso’s Portuguese-Latin Dictionary (1569). Then, Ruggieri coordinated the writing of the Chinese equivalents and wrote his phonetic interpretations of these Chinese words. Later, a fourth column (with Italian words) was added to the manuscript. In section A-C, Ruggieri assumed that there would be a Chinese correspondent for each word listed in Cardoso’s dictionary (1569). However, data collection and comparing lexical items from Portuguese and Chinese led him to abandon the list he had prepared beforehand. He then opted for a more pragmatic approach and abandoned finding a Chinese equivalent to each entry in Cardoso’s dictionary. Thus, in section D to Z, he changed his approach: a Portuguese entry was only written when the Chinese collaborators offered an equivalent. Nevertheless, at this moment, he phonetically transcribed the Chinese pronunciation first. Of course, this task required changing the order of writing. Then, Ruggieri first registered the entry, followed by the phonetic transcription given by his Chinese collaborators. Afterwards, he asked his Chinese collaborators to write down the words in Chinese. In this sense, Ruggieri made decisions to improve the use of all resources available. Zhu and Araujo (2024) have claimed that at least five agents worked on the dictionary. Assuming Ruggieri was agent 2, we, therefore, propose the following writing order: (1) Writing order a. A-C Section Portuguese(agent 1) > Chinese(agents 3/4/5) > phonetic transcription(agent 2) > Italian(agent 2) > revision(agent 2) b. D-Z Section Portuguese(agent 2) > phonetic transcription(agent 2) > Chinese(agents 3/4/5) > revision(agent 2) Although the manuscript was unfinished and never published, it reveals Ruggieri’s evolution as a lexicographer and a modus operandi that would influence later Jesuit dictionary production in the Far East. |
| Keyword | Lexicography Bilingual Dictionaries Jesuits Language Variation |
| Language | 英語English |
| Document Type | Presentation |
| Collection | Faculty of Arts and Humanities DEPARTMENT OF PORTUGUESE |
| Corresponding Author | GABRIEL ANTUNES DE ARAUJO |
| Affiliation | University of Macau |
| First Author Affilication | University of Macau |
| Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | GABRIEL ANTUNES DE ARAUJO,Chenglin Zhu. The order of writing in the compilation of the first Portuguese-Chinese dictionary |
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