Annotations In H.A.Giles’ A Chinese-English Dictionary

A Chinese-English Dictionary,published by British Sinologist Herbert Allen Giles in 1891 is a landmark work in the history of Western Sinology.Another Sinologist,Edward Harper Parker,gave the pronunciation of each Chinese character in Canton,Hakka,Foochow,Wênchow,Ningpo,Peking,Hankow,Yangchow,Sz Ch? uan,Korea,Japan and Annam to the dictionary.All of the dialect sounds given by Parker was obtained from the field investigation,which has important significance in study.There are 23 initials,54 finals and 9 kinds of tones in the phonetic system of Canton dialect in A Chinese-English Dictionary;18 initials,68 finals and 6 kinds of tones in the phonetic system of Hakka dialect in the dictionary;15 initials,58 groups of finals and 7 kinds of tones in the phonetic system of Foochow dialect in the dictionary;31 initials,33 finals and 8 kinds of tones in the phonetic system of Wênchow dialect in the dictionary;33 initials,53 finals and 8 kinds of tones in the phonetic system of Ningpo dialect in the dictionary;23 initials,43 finals and 4 kinds of tones in the phonetic system of Peking dialect in the dictionary;22 initials,39 finals and 5 kinds of tones in the phonetic system of Hankow dialect in the dictionary;19 initials,49 finals and 5 kinds of tones in the phonetic system of Yangchow dialect in the dictionary;23 initials,43 finals and 5 kinds of tones in the phonetic system of Sz Ch? uan dialect in the dictionary.The pronunciation of Chinese characters in Korea,Japan and Annam in A Chinese-English Dictionary was adapted from the authoritative dictionaries at that time.Each kind of pronunciation in the twelve places has its own characteristics,and the phonetic system of each dialect is different.There is a certain correspondence with the ancient phonetic system,and there are some subtle differences from the phonetic system in these places now.The phonetic systems of A Chinese-English Dictionary is marked with a unified system.Parker designed a system to mark all dialects and languages with Latin letters.This was a great attempt made by Parker in an era when there were no InternationalPhonetic Alphabet.