The treatment of cultural words in Chinese foreign dictionaries--a case study on “粽子”

Abstract The treatment of cultural words in bilingual dictionaries has always been an aporia for lexicographers who differ greatly in their opinions and practices on methods and strategies used on cultural words. The present study, taking Chinese cultural speciality 粽子 (zongzi) as an example, examined the treatment of this word in Chinese foreign dictionaries. Problems were found through both investigation on dictionaries and comparison with the data presented in a Chinese corpus: 1. inconsistent presentation; 2. insufficiently presented information; 3. difference in translation strategies. This paper gives suggestions to solve these problems by fully presenting cultural information and stressing the accuracy, sufficiency and the identity of 粽子 in Chinese foreign dictionaries in order to meet the consulting needs of foreign users of this cultural word.