Structure of Việt ngữ Tinh nghĩa Từ điển

Abstract

The article explores the structure of Việt ngữ Tinh nghĩa Từ điển compiled by author Nguyen Van Minh with the alias Long Dien. This is the first thesaurus in Vietnam compiled according to the explanatory dictionary model. The dictionary provides 300 groups of synonymous, identical- and close-in-meaning words (923 word units), both pure Vietnamese words and words of Chinese origin (with notes). Each entry’s content usually has 7 informations, including: headword, noting Chinese origin, explanation, example, switching note, note, and appendix. Published in the 1950s of the last century, this dictionary is a great step forward, making a great contribution to the development of Vietnamese explanatory dictionaries in particular and language dictionaries in general.