辞典Top | メディア掲載 Indexに戻る CyberScope トップへ
The Daily Yomiuri dated May 9, 1994

The making of a dictionary at home
Yomiuri Shimbun

  The Business and Technological English-Japanese/Japanese-English Dictionary should probably carry a health warning.
  For it caused Tokyo authors Fumio, 46, and Kazuko, 36, Unno extreme anxiety during the four years they were writing it.
  Both work as free-lance translators and over the years had collected many pamphlets and manuals in English for reference in their work. For the last 10 years, Fumio has been transcribing excerpts into notebooks -- he filled 30 -- to create a list of expressions and phrases that are often used in business and technological texts but not listed in dictionaries.
  But with so many notebooks, it was hard to find listings he wanted quickly so he decided he should use his research to compile a new dictionary.
  Thus in 1990 Kazuko stopped doing translation work so that she could devote herself full-time to the dictionary. She created a computer program to classify the collected expressions and phrases and began inputting the data.
  At first, the couple thought they would be able to complete the dictionary in about six months, but they soon realized that all the expressions and phrases had to be checked again if their dictionary were to be 100 percent accurate.
  So in February that same year, Fumio also stopped doing translation work and joined his wife in working on the dictionary in their Shinagawa home. That meant the couple had no income. They dipped into the savings they had put aside for buying a house, and relatives kindly offered money, food and other supplies. Still, their growing apprehension over the future led to health problems -- they suffered numbness in the hands and developed breathing difficulties. In the end, Fumio was forced to begin translating again.
  Last fall, a number of publishers contacted the couple with proposals for jointly publishing the work. Some proposed dividing the dictionary into two volumes and selling it for a price of \50,000. But the Unnos wanted a lower price tag because they wanted to provide a large number of people with an opportunity to use the dictionary. The publisher eventually chosen was Nichigai Associates Inc.
  In October 1993, the couple received some advance royalties from Nichigai and were able to concentrate their time and energy on finishing the dictionary.
  The B6-size 1,470-page dictionary, priced at \5,800, was completed and published in January. Since then, the original 10,000-print run has been selling so fast it is almost sold out.
  The dictionary gives, in addition to the English equivalent of each word, related meanings when the word is used in relation to, for example, computers.
  Look up the word "import" and the definition will be "to bring as merchandise into a country from abroad or to express and imply" -- just as in any dictionary. But the Unnos' dictionary also lists the definition "to read data" when the word is used in relation to computers, and gives examples of such usage.
  The Unnos say they have received many letters from people who have bought their dictionary. Some said the dictionary was truly practical and that if they had had such a dictionary at school, they might have studied harder.
  In response to the already growing calls for a revised and enlarged edition of the dictionary, they are now working hard collecting more data to improve the first edition. The couple acknowledged that there is plenty of scope for improvement in their dictionary, as they were rushed for time before.

Photo: The Unnos work on their dictionary. Yomiuri Shimbun

 

Top of this page