After he retired from teaching in 1976, DeFrancis was a prolific author of influential works such as The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (1984) and Visible Speech: The Diverse Oneness of Writing Systems (1989).
Victor H. Mair, a sinologist and professor of Chinese at the University of Pennsylvania, first proposed the idea of a computerized pinyin Chinese–English dictionary in his 1986 lexicographical review article.
He emphatically does not mean a usual Chinese dictionary collated according to the initial single graphs (zì 字) that are only the beginning syllables of whole words.
However, "agonizingly slow progress" made it apparent that a fulltime editor was necessary, and in May 1992 John DeFrancis offered to undertake the project centered at the University of Hawaiʻi.
[7] Along with Prof. DeFrancis overseeing the general planning and supervision of the project as well as its detailed operations, a volunteer team of some 50 contributors – including academics, Chinese language teachers, students, lexicographers, and computer consultants – were involved in the myriad tasks of processing dictionary entries, such as defining, inputting, checking, and proofreading.
The ABC Dictionary includes lín 林 "① forest; woods; grove ② forestry…" as one of 6 characters pronounced lín, followed by alphabetically listed lin-initial headwords from línbā 淋巴 "lymph" to línfēng 臨風 "facing against the wind", but then ling-initial words begin to appear with líng 〇 "zero", and only after another three pages will one find lìngzūn 令尊 "(courteous) your father" followed by línhǎi "immense forest".
The front matter includes a Table of contents; Dedication to "China's Staunchest Advocates of Writing Reform"; Editor's Call to Action; Acknowledgments; Introduction with I.
[16] The dictionary proper gives alphabetically arranged lexical entries and English translation equivalents, from "a* 啊 part.
[i.e., particle] used as phrase suffix ① (in enumeration) … ② (in direct address and exclamation) … ③ (indicating obviousness/impatience … ④ (for confirmation)" to "zúzūn 族尊 n. clan seniors".
Analytic Summary of Transcription Systems [for Pinyin, Wade-Giles, Gwoyeu Romatzyh, Yale Romanization, and Zhuyin Fuhao]; IV.
Their dictionary includes many neologisms such as dàgēdà 大哥大 "cellular phone" or dǎo(r)yé 倒爷 "profiteer; speculator", as well as the modern Chinese practice of incorporating the Latin alphabet in coining Sino-alphabetic words like BP-jī BP机 "pager; beeper".
It only includes monosyllabic character entries that are likely to be encountered as free forms or unbound morphemes (according to the Xiandai Hanyu Pinlü Cidian 现代汉语频率词典 "Frequency Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese").
Chinese word frequency is an important aspect of the ABC Dictionary, and it lists homophones according to their decreasing occurrence.
[20] For entries with identical spelling, including tones, arrangement is by order of frequency, indicated by a superscript number before the transcription, a device adapted from Western lexicographic practice to distinguish homonyms.
For entries that are homographic if tones are disregarded, the item of highest usage frequency is indicated by an asterisk following the transcription (see a* 啊 above), for instance, "lìguǐ 厉鬼 n. ferocious ghost" and "lìguì* 立柜 n. clothes-closet; wardrobe; hanging cupboard".
While frequency information is useful for students learning vocabulary, the ABC Dictionary chiefly provides it in order to help determine the default items in computer usage.
"Our unique combination of letters, tone marks, and raised numbers provides a simple and distinctive one-to-one correspondence between transcription and character(s) that is intended to facilitate computerized handling of the entries.
2dào 道 ① road ② channel ③ way ④ doctrine ⑤ Daoism ⑥ line ♦ m. for rivers/topics/etc.
For instance, saying the front matter's "uncommonly profuse" dedication and Editor's Call to Action reveal "no doubt that axes are being ground" about writing reform; the Distinctive Features of the Dictionary "reads like an abstract for a research grant application"; and describing most of the appendices as "a hodgepodge of pub quiz trivia".
Bauer says "I have generally succeeded in finding almost all the words and expressions I have tried to look up; this I regard as quite remarkable since I cannot say the same about other dictionaries I have been consulting over my more than 25 years of working on Chinese".
[26] Sean Jensen says alphabetical collation is "truly iconoclastic" in the tradition-rich world of Chinese lexicography and describes experimenting with using the dictionary.
The typography is exceptionally clear, and the sheer quantity of words per page, arranged alphabetically, has the effect of bringing the melodies of spoken Chinese alive.
[23] Michael Sawer, professor of Chinese at the University of Canberra, says using the ABC Dictionary does not make it easy to quickly find all the words beginning with the same Chinese character; but it does enable readers to easily find all those pronounced the same (disregarding tonal differences), as well as which among homophonous words is used most frequently.
Giving the circular example of a hypothetical dictionary user wanting to find all the compounds beginning with shí 實 "to realize", which is certainly easier with a customary Chinese dictionary than with the ABC, Chung says that the alphabetic arrangement is unfortunately "its biggest drawback", and while "this may reflect an ideal of treating Chinese primarily as a spoken rather than written language, it also goes against native habit and intuition.".
For some dictionary users, purely pinyin-dependent sequencing such as cuānzi 镩子 "ice pick" to cūbào 粗暴 "rude; rough; crude" and nǎngshí 曩时 "(written) in olden days; of yore" to nánguā 南瓜 "pumpkin" "may be at least initially confusing".
Advanced learners of Chinese who have a firm command of pinyin will also benefit, especially in cases when they know how to pronounce a word but do not remember how to write it, and will be able to quickly find the character.