| Change log entry 37658 | |
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| Processed by: | richwarm (2011-10-20 19:38:37 UTC) |
| Comment: |
<< review queue entry 35599 - submitted by 'richwarm' >> 查清事实后改判 Editor: When you compare the definitions of 查清 in various dictionaries (see examples below) you start to wonder what the lexicographers who wrote them were being paid to do! It looks like they form a cosy little club, whose members share definitions without taking too much trouble to check whether or not they are quite apt. Walter Simon, who compiled "A Beginners' Chinese English Dictionary," was quite frank about the process, writing in his preface: "'the compiler of a dictionary, if he reads a definition given in another book *before* he has determined the form of his own, is apt to be so hypnotized by the former that he finds it difficult to get away from it, and tends to reproduce its phraseology.' The present dictionary is likely to show the results of such a hypnosis on many occasions since no special efforts have been made to resist the hypnosis or to obliterate its traces." Here are some of the definitions 查清 I found: ABC ~ investigate thoroughly nciku ~ investigate thoroughly; check up on WorldLingo ~ make a thorough investigation of; check up on New Age ~ make a thorough investigation of; check upon [sic] FLTRP ~ make a thorough investigation of; check up on zdic ~ investigate thoroughly; check up on; make a thorough investigation If you were writing a new dictionary, could you possibly go against the weight of all this evidence? Well, Yves was independent-minded enough to write: "investigate thoroughly" is the kind of thing that is in dictionaries and misses the point. 查清 is about getting to the bottom of things; being thorough helps of course, but you must not stop before you find out the truth. I'll bet there are dozens of idiomatic phrases waiting to be used here, instead of the stilted "investigate thoroughly." That Yves is correct becomes clear when you start to look at the translated example sentences that accompany the definition in the quoted dictionaries. For example, WorldLingo ~ 查清某人来历 find out sb.'s background Far East ~ 侦探已查清他的来历 The detective has found out his background (looks like there's a bit of sharing of example sentences too!) New Age ~ 要查清这个事故是怎么发生的。It is necessary to find out the cause of the accident. FLTRP ~ 查清事故起因 determine the cause of an accident It's as if the definition writers and the example writers keep their work separate until the dictionary is put together, and never talk to each other. One says "investigate thoroughly" and the other says "find out"! Only ABC, in its example, perhaps purposely written to support its definition, is doggedly consistent: 警察说要查清这件事。 The police said they would investigate the matter thoroughly. Here is a quote from a Baidu Zhidao article: "道路交通事故成因无法查清"是指交警部门对引发交通事故的原因无法查清，即在事故中无法确定当事 人的过错，也无法认定各方当事人的责任。 ---- http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/110086364.html The use of the phrases 无法确定 and 无法认定 in the explanation of the phrase "道路交通事故成因无法 查清" makes it quite clear that 查清 involves more than just *making an effort* to find out (investigating thoroughly). It involves determining the truth of the matter. |
| Diff: |
# 查清 查清 [cha2 qing1] /to investigate thoroughly/ + 查清 查清 [cha2 qing1] /to find out/to ascertain/to get to the bottom of/to clarify/ |