A DICTIONARY OF DIFFERENCES

概要：

"A Dictionary of Differences". This book takes the form of a discussion between the author and four Japanese friends on a comparison of words and cultures in the setting of a holiday at Kawaguchiko. Such a comparison is hardly to be found within the pages of even the most elaborate dictionary, even the famous Oxford English Dictionary, since dictionaries are chiefly preoccupied with the denotation of words, whereas the full meaning of words, whether in English or in Japanese, is to be found in their connotation. Moreover, dictionaries tend to emphasize the similarities between words, whereas the dictionary I have in mind would be one that lays no less emphasis on the differences. Only, this would be a large enterprise.