Research On The Explanations Of Quantifiers In Modern Chinese Dictionary (5 Edition)

As the canonical dictionary of contemporary Chinese language, the Modern Chinese Dictionary (MCD) has won more and more attention in the academic circles. In order to help the revision of the MCD, the scholars performed numerous researches on it from various aspects such as the compilation of the formats, the acceptance of the words and the explanation of the words. This paper takes the 485 quantifiers listed in the MCD as the objects of research to systematically study the acceptance, the classification of the terms of meanings and the explanations of all the quantifiers listed in the MCD.The introduction of the paper summarizes the former researches on the explanation and the quantifiers of the MCD. The first chapter sorts the 485 quantifiers according to the classification method used by the compilers of the MCD and analyzes the way the MCD treats the"provisional quantifier", the"quasi-quantifier"and the"autonomous quantifier", which are disputable among the academic circle. The conclusion is that"provisional quantifier"and"quasi-quantifier"were not listed as quantifiers in the MCD while"autonomous quantifier"are listed as quantifiers. The second chapter analyzes the classification of the terms of meaning in the MCD and finds out that the general principle used is the sub-classification of the quantifiers. The third chapter studies the explanation of the quantifiers listed in the MCD. The four kinds of explanation methods used in the MCD, the"synonym explanation method", the"quasi-definition method", the"interpretation method"and the"comprehensive method", are described. And it is concluded that there are altogether ten basic methods for the explanation of the quantifiers used in the MCD. At the end of each chapter some of the shortcomings in the compilation of the MCD are listed and the relevant modifications are proposed. These shortcomings include missing quantifiers, conflictions in the formats of the classification of terms of meaning, disputable explanations of some quantifiers, etc.