Japanese dictionary
"Kokugo jiten/jisho" (/ "national language dictionary") means "Japanese–Japanese dictionary, monolingual Japanese dictionary". This "national language" term "kokugo", which Chinese borrowed as "guoyu", usually refers to the Japanese language as taught in Japanese schools. "Nihongo jisho" ( "Japanese language dictionary") is a neologism that contrasts Japanese with other world languages. There are hundreds of "kokugo" dictionaries in print, ranging from huge multivolume tomes to paperback abridgments. According to Japanese translator Tom Gally (1999:n.p.), "While all have shortcomings, the best "kokugo" dictionaries are probably among the best reference works in existence in any language."