Basic Mandarin Chinese - Reading & Writing Textbook. Cornelius C. Kubler

assemble.都DūDu [SN]成都ChéngdūChengdu (capital of Sichuan Province) [PW]京都JīngdūKyoto (major city in Japan) [PW]33天tiānsky, heavenRadical is 大 dà “big” (13). No matter how “big” people are (大), there is always something above them (the stroke on top: 一), which is the sky or heaven. 天 can serve as a phonetic in other characters, e.g., 添 tiān “add” and 舔 tiăn “lick.” Contrast 天 with 大 dà (13), 文 wén (21), and 人 rén (30).34津jīnford; (abbreviation for Tianjin)Radical is 水 shuĭ “water.” Notice that this radical is written 氵 and is referred to colloquially as 三点水 (三點水) sāndiăn shuĭ “three drops of water” when it occurs at the left-hand side of a character.天津TiānjīnTianjin (major port in north China) [PW]35西xīwest西 is itself a radical. It can also serve as a phonetic, e.g., 牺 (犧) xī as in 牺牲 (犧牲) xīshēng “sacrifice.” The top stroke of this character represents a bird and the rest of the character represents the bird’s nest. When the sun sets in the west, it’s time for the birds to return to their nests, hence this character indicates “west.” Contrast 西 and 四 sì (4).广西 ( 廣西 )GuăngxīGuangxi (province) [PW]山西ShānxīShanxi (province) [PW] (lit. “west of the [Tàiháng] Mountains”)36路lùroadRadical is 足 zú “foot” [BF], which at the left side of a character is referred to colloquially as 足字旁 zúzìpáng “side made up of the character 足.” Note that when this character is written as a radical, its last two strokes are different, with the last stroke curving up so as to make room for the component on the right. The other component of 路 is 各 gè “each.” Perhaps the following mnemonic will help you remember this character: Put “each” “foot” on the “road.” Note that 路 is often added to place words or personal names to create the names of roads.路LùLu (also Ro or Rho, a common Korean surname) [SN]路lùroad [N]上海路Shànghăi LùShanghai Road成都西路Chéngdū Xī LùChengdu West Road天津东路 ( 天津東路 )Tiānjīn Dōng LùTianjin East Road

      Reading Exercises (Simplified Characters)

      Now practice reading the new characters and words for this lesson in context. Be sure to refer to the Notes at the end of this lesson, and make use of the accompanying audio disc to hear and practice correct pronunciation, phrasing, and intonation.

       A. PERSONAL NAMES

      Read out loud each of the following personal names.

      一、路广天

      二、李成

      三、林天生

      四、文明成

      五、王海

      六、都明海

       B. PLACE NAMES

      Read out loud each of the following place names.

      一、成都

      二、上海

      三、广东

      四、广西

      五、天津

      六、广州

      七、山东

      八、京都

      九、东京

       C. PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACES OF ORIGIN

      Read out loud each of the following expressions, thinking of the meaning as you say it.

      一、台中人

      二、台东人

      三、广西人

      四、山西人

      五、天津人

      六、台北人

      七、成都人

      八、北京人

      九、台山人

       D. NAMES OF ROADS

      Read out loud the names of each of these streets or roads in mainland China and Taiwan.

      一、北京路

      二、上海路

      三、广州路

      四、山西东路

      五、成都西路

      六、天津东路

      七、广西西路

      八、台中路

      九、山东西路

      十、台山东路

       E. CHARACTER DIFFERENTIATION DRILLS

      Distinguish carefully the following similar-looking characters, pronouncing each one out loud and thinking of its meaning.

      一、天 天 天 大 大 大

      二、大 大 大 天 天 天

      三、天 天 天 文 文 文

      四、文 文 文 天 天 天

      五、天 天 天 人 人 人

      六、人 人 人 天 天 天

      七、西 西 西 四 四 四

      八、四 四 四 西 西 西

      九、人 大 天 文 西 四

      Reading Exercises (Traditional Characters)

       A. PERSONAL NAMES

      Read out loud each of the following personal names.

       B. PLACE NAMES

      Read out loud each of the following place names.

       C. PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACES OF ORIGIN

      Read out loud each of the following expressions, thinking of the