basics of chinese characters. getting started with chinese characters ( 字 zi4) strokes ( 笔划...

MEANING THROUGH GRAPHIC SYMBOLS

Basics of Chinese Characters

OUTLINES

Getting started with Chinese characters ( 字 zi4)

Strokes ( 笔划 bi3hua4) Order of Strokes( 笔顺 bi3shun4) Radicals ( 部首 bu4shou3

literally: "section header")

START FROM THE BEGINNING…

Well-established systems for more than 3000 years, still used by more than 1.3 billion people

Try to render the antiquity through a manner sticky to the young minds (90- 后 hou4)

Here is an example: “You can write with a pen…”

This is my version: “Let’s start from the very beginning…”http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sound+of+music+do+re+mi&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=A417F9E06B1AEEE6D5CBA417F9E06B1AEEE6D5CB

AS SIMPLE AS ONE-TWO-THREE

Learning to write is easy for …

But how can you write ten thousand this way?

Chinese Characters For Numbers

一二三四五六七八九十百千万亿兆

Zhuan style

說文小篆(100 AD)

Bronze inscriptions

金文(1300 BC)

Oracle bone script

甲骨文(1300 BC)

Chu style on Slips/Silk

楚系簡帛(300 BC)

100

1000

10000

100mil

STROKES ( 笔划 BI3HUA4)

It’s like the “alphabet” for Chinese words

STROKES ( 笔划 BI3HUA4) – cont’d

A total of 27 strokes as in this table.

ORDER OF STROKES ( 笔顺 BI3SHUN4)

The scripts are 2-d in nature. How do I know how to write the strokes in the right order?

Here are the rules:Horizontal and

then vertical

Left diagnose & then right

From top down

From left to right

ORDER OF STROKES ( 笔顺 BI3SHUN4)

The rules (continued…)

(Well, there are still some exceptions.)

Build the wallsbefore move in

Close the doorafter all is inside

Get the entry then put it onthe plate

Work from the center to sides

LET’S TRY IT OUT WITH SOME HARD ONES It’s time to know me by my Chinese

name

In “Simplified” characters

In “Traditional” characters

RADICALS ( 部首 BU4SHOU3)

A Chinese radical (Chinese: 部首 ; bù4shǒu3; literally: "section header") is a graphical component of a Chinese character under which the character is traditionally listed in a Chinese dictionary. semantic indicator phonetic component

RADICALS AS USED IN DICTIONARY

WAYS TO FORM (NEW) CHARACTERS

There are 6 ways ( 六书 ) 象形 (pictorial) 指事 (indicative) 会意 (associative) 形声 (picto-phonetic) 假借 (borrowing) 引申 (interchange)