Anomaly in the PLC dictionary [resolved]

[r.]

In the Pleco PLC dictionary, under

无数 [無數] (wúshù)

there is the following entry:

ADJECTIVE
innumerable; countless

VERB
unsure; uncertain


The Pleco CC dictionary, and other dictionaries I checked (e.g. wiktionary) contain only the first meaning.

So this seems to be a mistake in the PLC dictionary (?), but my question is this:

Given that "unsure; uncertain" is not a verb, is this a sufficient indication that this entry is bogus, or could this in principle suggest a meaning of the Chinese verb that has no analogue in English?

 

[Shun]

Hi r.,

everything's regular about this dictionary entry. Many words, not including this one, can be used as another part of speech without change. In our case, you could explain it as follows: (example sentence in the Pleco dictionary)

计划是否可行, 我心中无数。
jìhuà shì-fǒu kěxíng, wǒ xīnzhōng wúshù.
I’m not too sure whether the plan will work.

Looking at the second clause, you could translate it as "In my heart, I don't have numbers." or "In my mind, I don't have count." (as in "I've lost count") So in English, it could be translated as "unsure", which is clearly an adjective, while in Chinese, it comes from a verb-object structure with 无 "not have" and 数 "count" as two separate entities. You may know that the Chinese didn't know/use the concept of word classes before the Western influence set in.

You can also tell from other example sentences in other dictionaries that the 心中 in front of it is pretty important here to make the meaning unambiguous. There are a couple of other paid dictionaries that also list this meaning.

If you want to say "I don't know for sure.", it's more standard to say "我不确定。" The 我心中无数 sort of highlights the unsure-ness, it stresses the feeling or emotional state more.

Cheers, Shun

 

[JD]

ABC, KEY, and OCC also show both definitions.

I can't yet read the all-Mandarin dictionaries, so I can't say what they contain.

 

[Shun]

Good idea, the Xiandai Hanyu Da Cidian monolingual dictionary says: "不知底细。如：心中无数。" which would mean "not know the exact details". This difference shows how imperfect or incomplete many dictionaries are. (not Pleco's fault) The "not know the exact details" meaning may have existed before the "unsure" meaning, which I'm guessing may have developed out of it.

 

[r.]

Good to unsure one's reflexes sometimes. Thank you.

 

[Shun]

Yeah, sometimes one needs to direct them. You're welcome!