(PIAC Secretary General)
Structural Changes in Definitions of Two Manju Dictionaries
68th Annual Meeting of the PIAC, Bangkok 2026
The first Manju monolingual dictionary, “Han-i araha manju gisun-i buleku bithe”, was published in 1708. It contains about 12,100 keyword entries. In the course of Manju language reforms, this dictionary was later followed by an augmented and simplified dictionary named “Nonggime toktobuha manju gisun-i buleku bithe”. While the basic keyword information was augmented by adding a Chinese translation and reading aids, the definitions were simplified. This dictionary contains approx. 18,655 keyword entries. The number suggests approx. 6,500 newly added keywords but this is not the case as many of the definitions of the first dictionary contain secondary definitions which were then elevated to proper entries in the later dictionary. The language reform aimed at replacing Chinese loans in Manju by proper Manju words, and the definitions were also subject to an editing process.