The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters
McCawley, James D.
Paperback
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BOOK SUMMARY
Lauded by Calvin Trillin as a man who "does not have to make to with translations like 'Shredded Three Kinds' in Chinese restaurants," in The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters, James D. McCawley offers everyone a guide to deciphering the mysteries of Ch
Submit a book reviewBOOK SYNOPSIS
Lauded by Calvin Trillin as a man who "does not have to make to with translations like 'Shredded Three Kinds' in Chinese restaurants," in The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters, James D. McCawley offers everyone a guide to deciphering the mysteries of Chinese menus and the opportunity to enjoy new eating experiences. An accessible primer as well as a handy reference, this book shows how Chinese characters are written and referred to, both in script and in type. McCawley provides a guide to pronunciation and includes helpful exercises so users can practice ordering. His novel system of arranging the extensive glossary--which ranges from basics such as "rice" and "fish" to exotica like "Buddha Jumps Wall"--enables even the beginner to find characters quickly and surely. He also includes the nonstandard forms of characters that often turn up on menus.With this guide in hand, English speakers hold the key to a world of tantalizing--and otherwise unavailable--Chinese dishes.
BOOK EXCERPTS
01
AUTHOR BIO
James D. McCawley (1938-1999) was the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor of Linguistics and East Asian Languages at the University of Chicago.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Some General Remarks about Chinese Characters
2 How You Slice It
3 The Basic Stuff
4 Looking Up Characters
5 Let's Decipher Some Menus
6 Now You Do the Deciphering
7 Dimsam Menus
8 Restaurant Names
9 Familiar Characters in Unfamiliar Forms
10 Writing Out Your Own Order
11 The Pronunciation of Chinese
Mandarin
Cantonese
12 Answers to Excercises
13 Directions for Finding Characters in the Glossary
Index of Left Halves
Index of Tops
Index of Enclosures
Index of Indivisible Characters
Glossary
Index of English Names
BOOK REVIEWS
"If you want to eat the way the Chinese do when you are in Chinatown but have no familiarity with Mandarin or Cantonese, how do you face the untranslated lists of dishes posted on walls or menus? The Eater''s Guide to Chinese Characters, by James D. McCawley, a paperback edition of a book first published in 1984, could help. . . . In the end, you might be able to tell whether those stuffed buns are baked or steamed, and whether something called thinken legs is really chicken feet. Chinese characters are often more specific in describing dishes, and English translations are error prone. For example, a dish called Two Crisp in English is actually pig tripe and dried squid. The book also has a rudimentary guide to pronounciation."
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Cooking Books :: General Books
Foreign Language Study Books :: Chinese Books
MORE BOOK INFO
ISBN: 0226555925
ISBN(13-digit): 9780226555928
Dewey Decimal: 495.1/83421
Library of Congress: 2003068670
Book Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr
Language: ENG
No. of Pages: 2400
Paper Weight (lb): 0.65
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