Does anyone know if there is a “character dictionary”? This is where in contrast to a regular Gregg word dictionary that lists the characters in alphabetical order regarding the words they represent, the characters are presented in the order of the first symbol in the total character. Then each additional symbol is added in the character under it. All words related to each of these symbol combinations are listed. For example, in Chinese, there are dictionaries listing all the Chinese in alphabetical order for the Romanticized (Pinyin) words and a “stroke” dictionary listing all the Chinese words relative to their Chinese characters, starting with the first stroke made in a Chinese character. Relative to Gregg, take “e r” for example. It can mean were, year, or ear. Of course if you knew that you could sort it out by context. However, for more complicated words where you are not familiar with the character, it would be nice to go to a “stroke dictionary” and follow the “e” stroke down to the “e r” combination and find it referred to three words. If such a Gregg dictionary exists, what is it called?
Tom
(by bowie-freddie for everyone)
No one has published such a dictionary, but it is an interesting idea.
Thanks Chuck. I didn't imagine there was such a character dictionary. How about cross-referencing? Surely there must be a dictionary or lists somewhere that cross-reference symbols that have dual or multiple meanings, such as the character that can represent "year", "ear", or "were". This would especially be beneficial for the brief-forms that have changed through the years depending upon the Gregg system being used all the way from pre-Anniversary through Series 90. Does anyone know of such a cross-referencing list? I compile my own list as I go along but there must be a more efficient way. Tom
Well, there are lists of brief forms, but nothing I'm aware of that fits exactly what you're looking for… a lot of the time I find my confusion with certain outlines is because it's not one word, but in fact two or three… this will become especially apparent as you advance (in Simplified at least) where phrases like "will you please" are written without the "unimportant" words as "l-pl". Maybe it's because of this that such a dictionary hasn't been implimented, as there are so many possible logical combinations of the characters that it would be unfeasible to produce.
A site that lists the brief forms is this: http://gregg.angelfishy.net/
It won't help you when several brief forms are stacked together, such as in phrases like "a-sh-n-b-a" or "s-e-v-d-a-s-g". Making sense of them just comes with practice 🙂
Sorry there isn't much help to be offered on this!
I'm not aware of any list like that. Perhaps you've found a niche.