Editorial policy
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JMdict/EDICT Editorial Policy and Guidelines
(Under Construction)
These guidelines are intended for people preparing new entries or amendments for the JMdict/EDICT files. Typically these entries or amendments will be made through the form associated with the WWWJDIC server, or the amendment form within that server.
Before Starting
Before proposing a new entry or an amendment, you should:
- familiarize yourself with the style of the dictionary, particularly the way the English meanings are typically worded;
- make very sure it is not already an entry. An amazing number of "new" entries turn out to be in the dictionary already, or variants of existing entries;
- check you have written it correctly. Has it the correct kanji? Is the reading correct, with the vowel length right, ず/づ issues resolved, etc.?
- verify the source. There are excellent online dictionaries available, e.g. the Sanseido dictionaries at the Goo site. The Eijiro dictionary at the ALC site is also useful. If the word or phrase can't be found in a dictionary, WWW references to where it is used may suffice, but the meaning and context has to be clear. Dictionary and other reference information should be included in the "Reference" section in the form.
- verify that the word or phrase is common enough to include in the dictionary. Page counts for Google or Yahoo are useful for this purpose. In general unless a word or phrase has more than about 50 hits on the WWW, it is not worth submitting.
Dictionary Entry Fields
Headwords
The Headword section of the entry contains the form of the Japanese word/phrase which contains kanji or letters from non-Japanese scripts (e.g. ＭＰ３プレーヤー). If a word is written entirely in kana. it is included here as well. The headword should written in full-width characters (e.g. It is not MP3プレーヤー).
There may be more than one version of the word or phrase in the Headword section. The usual reasons for having more than one version are:
- alternative kanji in the word, e.g. 合気道 and 合氣道
- variations in okurigana, e.g., 生け花 and 生花
- part of a word being written either in kanji or kana, e.g., 言い付ける and 言いつける
- different transliterations of 外来語, e.g., ダイヤモンド and ダイアモンド
Synonyms should not be included, and should be entered as separate dictionary entries.
Readings
In this section enter the reading of the Headword. Readings associated with kanji should be in hiragana; the only exception being Chinese words and names, which are often translterated using katakana. More than one reading can be entered where alternatives are possible. Where alternative readings are restricted to particular varinats of the Headword, note this in the Comments field.
Please note:
- if the Headword contains katakana, use katakana in the Reading as well for the matching portion.
- do not use the Reading field if the Headword is entirely in kana.
Part of Speech
The entry form allows up to four "part of speech" tags to be selected. Select those which are appropriate.
Miscellaneous
The Miscellaneous section contains tags indicating additional information about the entry. Most are self-evident, but select them with caution.
English Meanings
The English Meanings section contains one or more short translations of the Japanese word or phrase.
- where the Japanese has more than one distinct meaning, break the section into "senses" by putting (1), (2), etc. in front of the first translation in each sense.
- do not use capital letters unless referring to a proper name (person, place, etc.)
- when entering the scientific name of a plant, animal, etc. put it in brackets after the first common English name, e.g. "spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus)". Note that the first word of the scientific name will have a capital letter.
- when entering a verb, use the infinitive in English (to run, to jump, etc.)
- when using "e.g." to expand on the meaning of a word by giving examples, or when using "i.e." to qualify the meaning of a word, place the expansion in parentheses after the initial translation. For example say "hand game (e.g. rock, paper, scissors)", not "hand game, e.g. rock, paper, scissors". Also, do not include a comma after e.g. or i.e.
Cross-References
Cross-references must refer to other dictionary entries. Enter one or more headwords, and where the reference is to a particular headword/reading combination, use the format: kanji・reading, e.g., 金本位・かねほんい.
Most cross-references will be synonyms, references to the full form (in the case of abbreviations), words from which the entry is derived, etc. Where the cross-reference is to an antonym, note this in the Comments.
Other Issues/Policies
Merging Entries
On occasions two or more entries may be merged when there grounds for assuming they are variants of each other. The basic principle that is applied is a "two-out-of-three" rule. For the candidate entries, if at least two out of the kanji-headword, reading and meaning fields are the same, the entries may be merged.
