On Chinese-Polish lexicography

Lexicography is a branch of science that involves both the practice and the theory of building up dictionaries. Bilingual dictionaries play a signifi cant role in intercultural communication, foreign language acquisition and learning. Since the economic, cultural and strategic relations between Poland and China are strengthening, and Chinese Studies are becoming increasingly popular among Polish people, the issue of Chinese-Polish lexicography is becoming a matter of great importance. This paper aims at setting out problems connected with creating dictionaries in the aforementioned language pair. The author describes, analyses and evaluates both Chinese-Polish and Polish-Chinese dictionaries, which are available on the publishing market. The article attempts to answer the question whether the existing dictionaries meet the expectations of the users and what kind of information should be contained in a good dictionary. The research shows that there is still need for further development of Chinese-Polish lexicography, particularly with regard to those dedicated for the advanced Chinese language learners and translators. It also reveals the problem of semantic equivalence and its appropriateness in the dictionaries.