A practical guide to preparing modern Chinese - Sinhala bilingual dictionaries

Abstract

Until the application of modern translation methodologies with dictionaries, the process of communicating and translating from Chinese to Sinhala and vice versa was very primitive from the Anuradhapura era to the 20th century in Sri Lanka. Chinese dictionaries with Sinhala language explanations are not very common to the local Sinhala language users in Sri Lanka even now. This situation occurs as a huge barrier to the development of Sinhala-Chinese language-based communication. Sinhala's dominant society needs more efficient Chinese dictionaries to carry out positive activities in the process of sociocultural, academic, and political aspects. To fulfill these requirements, there must have been preliminary studies regarding for preparing modern Chinese dictionaries for local needs. In the process of this research, it was found that typical Chinese dictionaries with Chinese definitions are not suitable for local people in Sri Lanka, though they may have certain Chinese knowledge. They may prefer Chinese dictionaries with Sinhala definitions, as such dictionaries are more convenient to use. However, typical Chinese dictionaries are more user-friendly than locally prepared dictionaries because those books are improved with modern scientific methods. There is a need to prepare Chinese-Sinhala bilingual dictionaries to improve the Chinese teaching and learning process and upgrade the Chinese working environment in Sri Lanka.