月 yuè means “moon”
木 mù means “tree” or “wood”
山 shān means “mountain”
水 shuǐ means “water”
Many of these types of characters are classified as Chinese “pictograms.”
In addition, there is another small category of characters that are direct iconic illustrations. Examples of these include:
上 shàng for “up” and 下 xià for “down”.
These were originally a dot above and below a line. Single number characters, such as,
一 yī for “one”
二 èr for “two”
三 sān for “three”
are also included in this category.
Composed Characters with New Meanings
具有新义的合体字
In the Chinese language there are many compound characters. Compound characters are made up of two or more single characters. When single characters are joined, the meaning and pronunciation of the character can change dramatically. There are twelve ways to compose Chinese characters. For example,
from top to bottom: 日 + 生 = 星
from left to right: 其 + 月 = 期
from left to middle to right: 言(讠) + 身 + 寸 = 谢 and so on.
Here are two frequently used ways to compose compound characters.
1) Two single characters may be combined to create a new single character with a new meaning.
2) Two single characters may be joined to form a new word. This new word is pronounced by speaking the individual characters, one after the other. The definition of this newly formed word may be similar to the individual original definitions or it may be completely changed. Look carefully at the following examples.
In this book, you will see that many compound characters are composed in these two ways.
Various Radicals
多样化的偏旁部首
A Chinese radical (or “section header”) is sometimes considered a “classifier.” It is a particular component of most compound characters that can be found in various positions within the word. The radical usually gives a clue as to the meaning of the character. It can also help with the pronunciation of a word. Characters with the same radical can be grouped together for the easy of studying or used as a point of reference for indexing. The Chinese dictionary is a great example of this.
As you look through this book, you will find that Chinese characters, such as 吗, 吃, 妈, 她, the口 and 女 are called radicals. You may wonder how or why a single character, such as 口 or 女, can become a radical. The answer is this: When compound characters are composed of two single characters, one of those characters becomes the radical. You can see it here in 吗, 吃, 妈, and 她.
Radicals, such as 口 and 女 keep their original single character form, but their shape may be narrowed or shortened. Many character components are distorted or changed in order to fit within the block shape alongside other characters. Some words or characters may take on a different shape completely. For example,
人 turns to 亻as a radical for 你, 他, and 们.
言 changes to 讠as a radical for 说, 话, and 读.
水 becomes 氵as a radical for 沙, 河, and 湖.
These are only a few examples to give you a general idea.
For many years, Chinese dictionaries have contained more than 200 radicals. You will easily be able to memorize the list of commonly used radicals offered here. They appear often in this book.
Some Commonly Used Chinese Radicals
Chinese radicals appear in various positions within the word or character. Some radicals appear on the left side of the character 你, 他, 们, while other radicals appear on the right side of the character 都, 那, 邓. Some radicals appear at the top of a character 茶, 菜, 花, while other radicals appear at the bottom of a character 名, 合, 右. In general, semantic components tend to appear at the top or on the left side of character, while phonetic components tend to appear at the bottom or on the right side of character. As you learn more Chinese characters, you will learn to recognize the radicals in their various positions. Recognizing the radicals will also help you increase your vocabulary quickly.
The Strokes of Chinese Characters
汉字的笔画
When you use a pencil, pen or brush to draw pictures, you draw lines, circles or curves, one step at a time. When you use a pencil, pen or brush to write Chinese characters, you make lines, dots or hooks, one step at a time. The principles for drawing pictures and writing Chinese characters are very much the same. Far from being complicated, Chinese characters are simple drawings made from simple strokes. There are about thirty strokes in all. Among them are eight basic strokes that form the core and are used most often. All strokes have their own name and particular method of formation.
See the table below containing the eight basic strokes and how to form them.
Eight Basic Strokes and Method of Formation
Learn to recognize and become familiar with each individual stroke, its name, writing direction and correct formation are all important. Whether the character is simple or complex, comprised of just a few strokes or many, the construction of each Chinese character relies heavily upon correct stroke formation. By focusing on the individual strokes, you will also be memorizing the character.
Stroke Order and Rules
笔画顺序规则
Throughout the years, rules have developed for writing Chinese characters. These rules help in learning the correct formation of characters. It doesn’t matter whether you are right handed or left handed. If you follow the rules for stroke order, you will be able to write beautiful Chinese characters.
Here are the main stroke order rules for forming Chinese characters. These general rules will help you to understand more specific stroke order rules later on.
1) Stroke from top to bottom
| 号 | number | page 11 |
| 票 | ticket | page 101 |
2) Stroke from left to right
| 但 | but | page 82 |
| 眼 | eye | page 108 |
3) Stroke from the horizontal before vertical
| 正 | positive | page 54 |
| 报 | report | page 99 |
4) Stroke from the horizontal before the down stroke to the left
| 左 | left | page 45 |
| 右 | right | page 45 |
5) Stroke from the down stroke to left before to the right
| 从 | from | page 72 |
| 服 | clothing | page 56 |
6) The enclosing strokes first, then the enclosed and finally