文白二读的乱象有待治理

It Is Imperative that the Confusion over the Pronunciations of the Written Chinese and the Oral Chinese Be Cleared Up

国家语言文字主管部门颁布的《普通话异读词审音表》规定:"塞"字的动作义文读sè,白读sāi。可是现行四部重要词书存在乱象:无一注为文读,却各自提示"旧读""又读"和"或读",或者把文读注为白读。令人不解的是"薄"字却都注出文读。"悄"字,文读qiǎo,白读qiāo,《普通话异读词审音表》未作文白二读处理。

As stipulated in Standardized Pronunciations of the Written Chinese and the Oral Chinese promulgated by the national department in charge of the Chinese language, the character ＂塞＂, when used as a verb, should be pronounced as se in the written language, whereas in the oral language it should be pronounced as sai. The four most important existing dictionaries, however, have all got them mixed up, in the sense that none of them has specified its pronunciation when used in the written Chinese, and that they have respectively resorted to such confusing terms as ＂old pronunciation＂, ＂alternative pronunciation＂ and ＂otherwise pronounced as＂, or simply mistakes the pronunciation of the oral Chinese for that of the written Chinese. What adds to the bewilderment is that all the above - mentioned dictionaries have invariably marked out the pronunciation of the character＂ 薄 ＂when used in the written Chinese. They have also specified the pronunciations of the character＂悄＂ as qiao and qiao, respectively in the written language and the oral language, while the difference is not marked out at all in Standardized Pronunciations of the Written Chinese and the Oral Chinese.