Word Lianxi Language Learning System

Study Guide for Basic Chinese Characters - 1

2011 Newport Coast Software, LLC All Rights Reserved. Harry A. Layman

This instruction guide accompanies and supports the Wordz Lianxi Language Learning System software application for iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone. v1.2c Special Note: this is FREE, Educational Use, LOW RESOLUTION PDF optimized for reading on iPad, PC and tablet computer screens. I high resolution PDF (600 DPI) or printed copy can be purchased at www.lulu.com at https://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=9809329

Newport Coast Software 11654 Plaza America Drive, Suite 333 Reston, VA 20190 wordz@newportcoastsoftware.com www.chinese4beginners.com February 2011

COPYRIGHT PAGE Wordz Lianxi Learning Basic Chinese Characters 2011 Newport Coast Software, LLC ISBN 978-0-557-92660-2

Wordz Lianxi 1 / Word Practice

Study Guide for Basic Chinese Characters 1

Introduction This study guide accompanies Chinese4Beginners and related applications of the Wordz Lianxi Language Learning System application software. Wordz Lianxi 1 is designed to assist learners of Chinese with recognizing over 286 basic Chinese words comprised of some 340+ unique simplified Chinese characters (Hanzi). This guide includes references to, and information about, nearly 500 Chinese characters used in everyday life that include many simple examples of nouns, adjectives, verbs and other common word types that are organized and presented to maximize learning for students new to the written Chinese language. Traditional approaches are guided by simple word frequency, random exposure via simple dialogs, or someones idea of the most important characters. This guide and the Chinese4Beginners software present words in a logical order that help you learn them in several ways: a) by identifying common character components, their meaning, and how words that use them related to each other and the common elements; b) by grouping words in a fashion that emphasizes commonalities; and c) by layering the character exposure so that knowledge builds adding new characters by leveraging information learned about previous characters. This software and instruction guide is not designed to be a primary source for learning the written Chinese language, but to accompany materials and other forms of instruction in basic Chinese. We use here the simplified Chinese character set as used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. (Traditional characters are still widely used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.) Learning Chinese is difficult for those accustomed to alphabet-based languages for a great variety of reasons1. Many experts recommend that learners of Chinese already fluent in another language take a very different, and more efficient, approach to learning Chinese than is used for native speakers that grow up in an environment filled with the sounds, syntax and tones used in everyday Chinese. Foreign learners, as I shall call them, are better served by learning aspects of the language vocabulary, syntax, sounds, tones, characters and words in various modes, and not necessarily all things at once. Most foreign learners of Chinese begin their study by learning the basic sounds and tones of Chinese, and need a few simple words to use for practice. In addition, good practice requires simple sentences, dialogs and descriptions using basic and familiar words and these words are chosen to give the student a starting point in such practice during their early study of the Chinese language. Many foreign learners focus solely on the spoken language when starting with Chinese; others want to learn both the written and spoken language together. This material is designed for the beginning Chinese learner that would like to begin becoming familiar with Chinese characters for everyday words.
1 Why Chinese is so Damn Hard, an essay by David Moser dedicated to John DeFrancis to celebrate his 80th birthday and contributions to the study of Chinese. At http://goo.gl/mrJvp

A more comprehensive approach to learning Asian language characters, designed for learners already fluent in another language (such as English, German, French, Portuguese and Spanish), was developed by James W. Heisig in the 1980s (initially for learning Kanji, or Japanese characters) and adopted by Heisig and Timothy W. Richardson for Chinese (both for Traditional and Simplified Hanzi or Chinese characters) in 2007. Others (notably Matthews and Matthews, see the references below) extended and modified the approach to address more aspects of the language (e.g. sounds, tones) but use the same basic building block approach for teaching learners how to recognize and learn the basic Chinese character set. This approach starts with individual strokes and simple characters, adds character components and then adds characters of increasing complexity. Each new character adds to characters already learned in a simple incremental way, by combining existing forms or strokes, or adding the smallest additional element required. By using a combination of incrementalism, keywords and mnemonic phrases or short stories, some students have learned large vocabularies (in terms of visual character recognition and association with meaning) in much shorter times than conventional approaches to learning characters (e.g. learning characters in order based on frequency and utility). The key is that as a result of this incremental approach, students can see common character elements from the beginning, making adding more complex characters to their visual vocabulary easier. The Basic Chinese Characters 1 product, and this learning guide, is focused on helping learners recognize a specific set of over 286 basic words and associated characters. Tips and ideas to assist with learning each of characters and words that comprise the 16 word sets are included in the information in this Learning Guide. In many cases, these tips include building block information following the model used by the Heisig and Richardson approach to character learning to help make the characters easier to learn and remember. This work however is my own, and any errors, omissions or failings in my attempt to emulate even the template of their excellent work should not detract from your motivation to study their excellent system. Unlike this collection of common words, their system builds up so that every character beyond a minimal base set of shapes is built up from primitive components in an orderly, structured way. With Basic Chinese Characters one, we focus generally on high usage words, so many important components are introduced on the fly and reinforced through common occurrence in other elements within the sets of Wordz. Further, the brief twitter sized hints provided in the software point to cues in this text, but by themselves are too short to teach. Rather, they are designed to trigger memory of what can be learned from this guide. For more information on learning Chinese, and on our software tools, web-based learning resources and other products, visit us at www.chinese4beginners.com. You may also order physical copy of this book in rich and vivid color see our web site for more details. Thank you for purchasing our software! Harry Layman Spring 2011

References: Remembering the Kanji, by Dr. James W. Heisig, University of Hawaii Press, May 2007. Additional works with similar titles going back to his first edition of the basic system for Kanji in the 1987.

Remembering Simplified Hanzi, by Dr. James W. Heisig and Dr. Timothy W. Richardson, University of Hawaii Press, October, 2008. Chinese Characters, Dr. L. Wieger, S.J., Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1965. The first edition 1915; the second edition 1927. Translated from the French by L. Davrout, S.J. Analytic Dictionary of Chinese and Sino-Japanese, Dr. Bernhard Karlgren, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1974. Originally published in 1923.

"Grammata Serica, Dr. Bernhard Karlgren, The Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities No. 12, Stockholm, 1940; reprinted by Elanders Boktryckeri A.-B., Gothenburg, 1940. Additional links and information: www.chinese4beginners.com www.chinese4children.org www.wordzlianxi.com www.wenlin.com

Notes for this Learning Guide

Character sounds are described using pinyin (see Wikipedia). This system uses English letters and numbers the numbers 1-4 for the four tones used in Chinese; sometimes 5 is used for no tone. Also note there are many, many characters for most basic sounds and sometimes dozens. Hence shi2 may mean ten, and shi4 might be the verb to be, but there are dozens of other possibilities at the character level for what these sounds might mean. Also sounds like che1 and chi1 (car and eat) might be very close for non-Chinese speaker to distinguish, with the same tone but different final sound, but the specific sounds are based on the rules for pinyin, and the pinyin sounds for letters (I and E in this case) may not always be as closely related to the English sounds for these characters as expected without study of Pinyin as part of your Chinese studies. One familiar pattern for characters is for them to have two parts, one that contributes the meaning, the other which contributes to the sound. How they contribute is not always simple, and so one cannot with certainty know either the sound or the meaning of a new character or even which part might be a clue for what. An example:

(pao3) means run. The left side is a compressed form of , which means
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foot (sound: zu2); the right side is

which means bag or wrap (sound: bao1). The character has the

meaning run which is derived from the meaning of the left side. And it has a sound derived from the right side. But of course, while foot and run are related, once does not imply the other. Similarly, pao sort of rhymes with bao but they are different tones. The sounds are close same final sound, similar initial sound. But one does not imply the other. So what we have are clues, not deterministic rules. As a result, it is more important for you to develop your own way of remembering what characters mean rather than remember specific, historical reasons for what they are and mean and sound like (which, often, are themselves only guesses). This is because learning to read will require you to recognize characters correctly, and quickly, but not that you know their correct histories, derivations or how they have changed since ancient times. Note also that some characters have multiple pronunciations, and sometimes each variation has its own meaning. These are relatively rare, and while we meet one or two in these lessons, we wont dwell on this issue. Example: in lesson 1 we have bicycle: This pronunciation for

or zi4xing2che1 for self go vehicle.

as xing2, and it is associated with the meaning go or okay; it is quite , which is yin2hang2. In this case, when pronounced

common. For example, it is used in bu4xing2! for wont work!, not okay, wont go, etc. But equally common is the word for bank:

as hang2 means row, column or line. Luckily these sorts of things are rare (there are only a small number of such characters among the most common 1,500 characters.) Another example in Basic Chinese Characters 1 is which in sleep ()isgivenasJiao4,butinthinkor feel is (), or Jue2. These dual-pronunciation items are different from characters with a single pronunciation and multiple meanings, as we see with wait and meet (both ).

A Word about Radicals or Components

This text uses the term radicals, which are special, common word components in Chinese, and has been used to organize the words in the language for ages. Figuring out which element was the primary radical has long been the bane of learners using printed dictionaries; the rapid rise of electronic dictionaries has made radical-based lookup, and to some extent stroke order and proper stroke counting, less essential. It remains quite useful to know and understand how to write characters properly by hand, but much less so in an electronic world.

In this text (and often in the software hints) I sometimes refer to the following radicals by these names:

roadorgoradical:

, , ,

(this,connect,farandnear)

Connectisinlotusrootanddress.

grass,grainorplantradical:,,,,andmanyotherplants personradical(from):, foodradical(from): wordoriradical:

(stop,body)

, , (riceorfood,dumpling,wanton)

, , , (speak,talk,words,who) , (oil,soup)

threedotwater:(from)

twodotwater"(from),

(cold,ice)

silk:leftsideof,(red,give)
wildortwistedsilk:bottomof,

(purple,vegetarian)

heart(from): , , (fast,slow,fear) heart(fullform,usuallyonbottom):,(onion,sumorgeneral) bamboo:ontopof, , (chopsticks,wait,laugh) knife(from): (arrive)

Triangle()noteupordownclouds,meetorbeable.(si1radical).

hand(from) -- , , , (hitorplayoruse,hot,seek,throw) fire: , , , (stirfry,roast,smoke,scaldingonbottom!)

firedots:,,,,(dotsoralittle,hot,blackordark,banana)

eyecomponent.SidewaysthisisNET. field.

metalorgold(from gold).evening.hill,moundorcity.
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Table of Contents

1. Set1OntheGo.......................................................................................................9 2. Set2BasicFoods1................................................................................................14 3. Set3Clothes1......................................................................................................19 4. Set4Adjectives1..................................................................................................23 5. Set5Adjectives2..................................................................................................27 6. Set6Verbs1.........................................................................................................32 7. Set7Verbs2.........................................................................................................37 8. Set8Queries1......................................................................................................42 9. Set9ShopEtc.......................................................................................................48 10. Set10Cooking....................................................................................................53 11. Set11EatOut.....................................................................................................58 12. Set12Dishes......................................................................................................62 13. Set13BodyWords.............................................................................................67 14. Set14Home+Family.........................................................................................72 15. Set15BasicFoods3............................................................................................77 16. Set16Queries2 ..................................................................................................82 17. SomeAdditionalCharacters ......................................................................................87

1.

Set 1 On the Go

This first word set (or Wordz) presents various means of transportation. Many are vehicles, so one expects the name to end in the character or Che1, which is the word for vehicle, and often used as American English speakers might use car. Qi4 che1 is more like automobile, or literally gas (powered) car, so sometimes this references is used to be more explicit. Ka3Che1 is truck, and the first character has the ka3 sound and is also used in other words where the Chinese word uses the ka3 sound to connote card credit cards and hotel room key cards are good examples. Jing3che1 for police car also follows this pattern, and illustrates another Chinese word forming pattern: The Jing3 in Jing3che1 comes from Jing in Jing3Cha2 (

) for police but as often the case, the first character of the word

for police is combined with the vehicle word to create the word for police vehicle. This will be a familiar pattern for example, the word or phrase for European-American is made from just the first characters of the word for Europe and America so (ou1zhou1) + (mei3guo2) = (ou1mei3). Other words in this set that end in Che1 include mo2tuo1che1, created as a transliteration of motor plus the character for vehicle. The Mo2 character is the word used for message which has a lean-to shelter above it, two little trees (sound for these as characters by themselves is mu3) under the shelter but above the character for hand). These three components - , (used twice) and , all combine to form . A quick glance might suggest that the two together almost form an M and can remind the reader of the mo sound, giving mo-che1 or motor-something-car (three characters means three symbols) hence this character must be the word for motorbike or motorcycle (mo2tuo1che1). A more sensible approach to learning Chinese characters might first teach the three components and some cases, their components first, building up to complex characters like the mo2 () which is exactly what the Heisig-Richardson and Matthews-Matthews approaches do in the books referenced in the introduction. Some additional observations about the words in this set:

Che1(),thewordforvehicle,iscommonlyusedinwordsrelatedtocarspark canbestopcar(set16)andtaxicanbe()forexample. Thesethreecharactersmeangoout,rentandvehicleagorentcar.Zu1 ()forrentorlease,isagoodcharactertoknow(seeadditionalwordsin chapter17).

Dian4()forelectricorelectronicisafrequentcharacterinmanymodern words.
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Ka3()foritssound(asinCard);Fei1()forfly;Mu4()forwoodortree, anddao1()forknifeareimportantcomponentsorcharacterswewillseeagain inlaterlessons.

Additional mnemonics for remembering other on the go characters are presented below, followed by the pictures for the set:

Hanzi

Pinyin
Zi4xing2che1

Char-bychar
Self Action Vehicle

English
Bicycle

Notes
Actionisxing2dong4using but hasmultiplemeaningsandpronunciations. Thezi4()characterforselfcanbe visualizedasapersonpointingtotheirown foreheadbetweentheeyes(mu4or)is thecharacterandwordthatmeanseye seelesson13).

Fei1ji1

Flying Machine

Airplane

Eachcharinthiscasecanbeusedbyitselffor themeaningsindicated:fei1()meansfly; ji1()meansmachine.Notalwaysthecase (e.g.carpetinEnglishhasnothingtodowith carsorpets)!Notethatfei1canbeseen asastickdrawingofacrane,alargebirdof China,facingleft,withtwowingsonitsback. byitselfcanbehowmanywhen pronouncedji3(risingfallingtone),or smalltablewhenpronouncedji1(high leveltone).Thinkofthenasamachine builtwithwood(andsoormuscle(ji1), mustbeamachinemadeofflesh(thinkof asmoonorpartsofthebody/flesh,aswe willseeagaininset3andset5,andthemany bodywordsofset13).

or

Chuan2

Boat

Boat

Thinkofthelefthandsideasatwoseater boatpointedupstream. Awheeledconveyancethinkofthisasa pictureofamanstandingonaskateboard, armsoutstretched.Noteqi4()means 10

Che1

car or powered vehicle

Car

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
vapororgas.

Ka3che1 Kart-Car Truck

Ka3ismadeupofontop(meansontop) of(meansbelow/bottom)aswhenyou swipeacreditKArdupanddown.Kaisoften usedforsoundwordsadoptedinChinesethat needthissoundasforcardand(inthiscase) cart.

mo2tuo1che 1

Mo-tuo car

Motorcycle

Seeabove.Soundwordtransliterationfor motor.Themo4()characterusedin messagemeansruborweardown,andis comprisedoftwotrees()abovea squishedhand,underashelter.

dian4dong4c he1

Electric Moving Vehicle

Ebike

EachCharactercontributesmeaning(notjust usedforsound).Dian4()couldbea pictureofthearmatureofagenerator;afield electrifiedbyawire?Dong4isacloud() powered()bywindormovement( ).

Dian4ti1

Electric Ladder

Elevator

NoticeElectric(Dian4)characterused againhereandforebike.Ti1,forladder,hasa treeorwood(mu4:)leftside(wewill seethisagainandagain)andtherightside( )isbyitselfdi4forlittlebrother(contributing sound)butalsolooksabitlikeaseriesof stepsorladder.

Di4tie3

Earth Iron

Subway

Thecharacterssayearthironandcanmean undergroundrailwayorsubway. Oneofthefewfourcharacterwordsinour 288.Finaltwocharactersarethegeneric wordforcar.Gong()forPublicalsoused forPoliceSecurity()orpoliceand (privateownedbythepublic,notthe government)company()gong1si1.

Gong1gong4 qi4che1

Public Share Vehicle

Bus

Chong1lang4 ban3

Rush Wave Board

Surfboard

Thethreecharactersare:Rinse/Rush(), lang4whichisfrombo1lang()or wave)andBoard(notetheleftsideofthis 11

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
characteriswoodortree(),theright sidefan3())whichcontributestothe soundwhichisofcourseban3(rhymes withfan3).meansturnovereasy topictureasurfboarderdoingthat!

Jing3che1 Police Car PoliceCar Hua2ban3 Slide Board Skateboard

Hua2xue3ban 3

Sliding snow board

Skis

Note there are 3 words ending in Ban3 (). Hua2 here is slippery, smooth, slide, etc. Can mean cunning, crafty The top of the character for snow means rain ( ); the bottom was a symbol for hand frozen rain you can sweep holding a broom is snow. From dugout canoe, Du2mu4 is transliteration of dugout that uses the wood character) and zhou3 () is the left side of the boat character we started with (see above) two-seater canoe pointing up. Straightforward compound word. Left character () is water radical () next to the character for water itself () meaning ice; right character is standard character for Knife. Xiao1fang2 means fire prevention, from two characters meaning disappear and guard or protect (but also embankment). Di1fang2, using this Fang2, is the common word for place. So fire prevention vehicle. (Fire prevention = protect from disappearance?) Jiu4hu4 means give first-aid; rescue or relieve. The middle character hu4 is also used in Nurse: (hu4shi) (note: for scholar differs from for earth / dirt. )

Du2mu4zhou 3

Du Wood Boat

Canoe

Bing1dao1

Ice Knife

IceSkates

Xiao1fang2ch e1

Prevent-fire (disappear, protect) vehicle

Fireengine

Jiu4hu4che1

Rescue (relieve, protect) vehicle

Ambulance

The jing3 here is from jing3cha2 (), which means police. Its components are respect ( ) over () or yan2, words.The word for respect: znjng

The characters and pictures for this set are included in the table below.

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2.

Set 2 Basic Foods 1

In this second set of words we will see several characters repeated, and which can help us to recognize food words not in the set. These include:

Guo3orwhichmeansfruit.Thischaractermeansfruit.Thewordforfruitis ,literallywaterfruit.ItappearsinoursetinthewordsforApple,butis alsousedinthewordsfororchard,fruitjuice,fruittree,rind,andnutrelated words,andinwordswherefruitisusedasinthefruitofyourlabor.Fruitis composedoffield()overtree(). Xiang1orasinfragrant,scentedorappetizing.ThisisthesameXiang1asin Xiang1Gang3orHongKongasitisknownbysome(thecharactersareliterally fragrantharbor).Thiswillappearinthewordforcilantro(orcorianderforthe British)andBananahere,butalsoinwordsforsesame,fennel,andasanise.Xiang1 lookslikegrainmadepungentbybeingleftinthesun(,) Dou4orwhichmeansbeanwhichwewillseelaterinDou4fu()for Tofu,andisusedinsoybean(),literallybigbean(da4dou4).Inthissetitis usedinthewordforpeas,potatoandstringbeans.Thecharacterhasanoriginina pictureoffoodorvessel.

Caiorisamultipurposecharacterandwordthatmeansbothvegetableand dish(ofvegetablesetc.).visuallythecharacterdepictsthegrainradicalontop, forclarity(itis)thenahandpickingthingsoffatree).Inthissetitisused inthewordsforstringbeans,cilantro,celery,andchives.Itisalsoauseful characterbyitself.Wewillseeitlateringreens/Chinesecabbage.

Gua1or

isthewordformelon,andgivesusthewordsfordong1qua1or

eastmelonforapopularandnutritiousmelonusedinChinaforgreatsoup dishes;westmelonor,asitisknownintheWest,watermelon;and,forthisset, southmelonornan2qua1akaPumpkin,alsoacommonfoodvegetablein China.OtherwordscontainingGua1includewordsformelons,gourdsorsquashof

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variouskindsandtheircomponentsandbyproducts.Huanggua()or yellowmeloniscucumber.
Information on the characters for set 2 is presented below, followed by the characters and pictures.

Hanzi

Pinyin Char-by-char
ping2guo 3 Apple fruit

English Notes
apple Grainorplantradical( as in ) overthe characterwhichmeanslevelfollowedby charforfruit.Notethatthefruitcharisfield( )overatree(). Rememberxiang1forfragrant(seeabove). Otherthanthecluefromfragrant,notmuch togoontorememberthisone.Youwillmeet( )inSet8aspartofothercharacters;here withagrassradicalaboveandfirebelow,the birdwithashorttailmightbesittingina bananatree!

xiang1jia o1

Fragrant plantain

banana

tao2zi

Peach noun-marker.

peach

Thebestclueisthenounsuffixziorthat weseeagainandagainmarkingnounsfrom forkandspoontotrousersandhat.Thetao2 characterhasaleftsidethatistree(again!) andarightsidethatisalowfrequency characterforomen(),whichisalsousedin choose,jump(set16)andflee:,and. Treeomenakapeach?

mi2hou2t ao2

Mi2 monkey peach

kiwi

Fewfruitshaveexoticthreecharacternames,so thenameforthisexoticfruitfromNewZealand isalsomemorable.Eventhoughkiwiactually originatedinChina.Andmi2hou2isarhesus monkey,sowehaveamonkeypeachasbeing thewordforkiwi.Ifthathelps. Twocharactersunderthegrain/plantradical: thefirstlookslikeamorningflower()and thesecondthewordforevery()(seeset 9).Everymorningflowerunderplantsigns= Strawberry

cao3mei2

Grass Berry

Strawberry

mi3fan4

Rice Food

rice

Thefirstcharacterisrice;thesecondcharacter isthewordforfood,asinFan4dian() for restaurantorliterallyFoodstore.Together theyformthewordforcookedrice. ThefirstcharacterisforJade,whichisitselfthe characterforKing()withadroponhistoe. Kingandyellowhavesimilarpronunciations 15

yu4mi3

Jade Rice

corn

Hanzi

Pinyin Char-by-char
fan1qie2 Fan1qie2

English Notes
(wang2andhuang2) socorncanbe rememberedasakindofyellowrice. tomato Thefirstcharacterlookslikealid,ontopofrice ()ontopofafield().Thesecond characterlookslikethewordaddorjia1() underthegrain/plantradical(). The qie2 character is also the first character of eggplant, below. Another word for tomato is or xi1hong2 shi4 and those characters are west red persimmon which is maybe easier - or not.

tu3dou4

Earth Bean

potato

Earthbeanisgood,andwehaveseeneachof thesetwocharactersinothercontextssubway =earth+iron,andTofu(set10)andotherbean words. Twogoodcharacterstoknow,andapopular foodconsumedinChina.Remembertheshape oftheGua1characterassprawlingplantson thegroundbeforesquash,melons,etcstartto grow. Thefirstcharacteristhekeyitlookslikeacar( )ontheroad(outerpartof )underthe plantradical.Thinkofthehighlyinterconnected lotusrootleavestorememberthisgreatdish fromHangzhou. Vegetablebean.Twoimportantcharacters,one easyword.Acommoningredientandeveryday food. Basicredpotato.Redismadefromsilk() andwork():.Visualizedyeingsilkredfor useinChinesefestivals.Yam(alsoinset15)is moredifficultitshowsthegrainradicalovera netoveroronewho..soonewhonets food? TheYu2character()isusedfortaro.Itshows aplantradicaloveracommonsurnamewith thesamepronunciation:yu2().Thesecond characterisusedforheadandlookslikea stickfiguremovingtotheright.Seeset13for headandhair(,).Mr.Yu2shead. Thefirstcharacteriscomposedofaleftside (dou4,orbean)andarightsidethathasthe soundofwan1)butwhosemeaningdoesnt matter(weatherwelookator).Andthe secondcharacterisagainbean.Sothisbasic beanbeanwordmeanspeaabasickindof bean. 16

nan2gua1

South Melon

pumpkin

lian2ou3

Lotus Root

Lotus root

cai4dou4

Vegetable Bean

String beans

hong2shu 3

Red Yam

Sweet potato

yu4tou

Yu2 Head

taro

wan1dou 4

Wan1 bean

peas

Hanzi

Pinyin Char-by-char
jiu3cai4 Flowered-garlic, Vegetable

English Notes
chives Thefirstcharacterisforfloweringgarlicor Chinesechives;thefigureissaidtocome fromthegrowingleavesoftheplant.The secondcharacterisourfriendvegetable. Twokeywordsandcharacters.Grainhe2() oversun()getsFRAGRANT.Seediscussion above.

Xiang1cai 4

Fragrant vegetable

Cilantro

Qin2cai4

Celery Vegetable

Celery

Qin2showsjin1(),abasicunitofmeasure, nowahalfkilogram,underaGRASSradical.

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3.

Set 3 Clothes 1

In this third set of words we will see several characters repeated, and which can help us to recognize words generally. These include:

Yi1or,whichisageneralwordforclothesorgarment.Itcanappearas

Zi5or.Thischaracterinthethirdtonemeanschild,butattheendofaword, withnotone,isageneralnounsuffix,helpingtomarkthewordasanoun. Wai4or,whichmeansoutside.Usedinmanywordsandphrasessuchas orwai4guo2ren2forforeigner(outsidecountryperson).

Jin1or,whichmeanspieceofclothandisusedinthewordsforscarf,aswell asinthewordsfornapkin(orcan1jin1),towel(orshou3jin1)and blanket(orbei4jin1).

The words in the set and some clues to help remember their shape are presented in the table below.

Hanzi

Pinyin
han4shan1

Char-bychar
sweat shirt

English
tshirt

Notes
Thisisatshirtorunlined,upperbody garment.Thinkoftheleftsideasawet person(stickfigure,waterradicaltoleft). Shan1isasquishedformofYiorfor clothingontheleftsidewith on the right (think of a drying wind). Shirtorblouse.Thefirstcharacterhastheleft sidewhichisthesameastheshan1character ontherightasquishedformofYifor clothing,thistimepairedwitharightsideof or cun4 for inch (visualize a hand with thumb and forefinger separated). Thetwocharacterscombinetomakethe meaningoftheword. HereYi1forclothesiscombinedwithku4( )forthesound(meanswarehouse).The 19

/ T

(T-xu4 soundloan) chen4shan1 Liner shirt shirt

wai4yi1 ku4zi

Outside clothes Pants nounsuffix

coat pants

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
characterisacarinafactory( in )= warehouse,butonlythesoundisusedhere; meaningisfromtheleftside(clothes).

duan3ku4

Short Pants

shorts

Duan3isimportantSMSortextmessages areduan3xin1orshortmessages.Butasto whythecharacterlookslikesomethingabout shootinganarrow intoabeanis anyonesguess.

wa4zi

End-Clothes noun-marker

socks

Theleftcharactercombinesyi1forclotheson theleftsidewith(mo4)ontherightthat meansend.Mnemonic:sockscoverthe endofyourbody.

xie2zi

Shoe nounmarker

shoes

Theleftsideofthexie2charactercomesfrom meaningleather(ge2);therightsideis twoearthcharactersstacked()( isan archaicchar)soleatherontwofeet(that standontheearth)=shoes.

tuo1xie2

Pull shoes

slippers

Theleftcharactermeanspullordrag;the rightcharacterisshoes.soslippersareshoes youpullon.AhumoroussourcesaysTrynot toconfusetuo1withforshi1 'execute'.

qun2zi

Skirt nounmarker

skirt

Againwehavealeftsidefromclothesand therightsidehereisamystery.Technicallyit lookslikeorruler,madeupof(yin3) and(kou3)ancientwordforgovernment official;mouth.Nohelphereformeaning.\ Onepiecedressconnect(lian2)showsacar ontheroad(seelotusroot,set2)meaning connect(nograinradicalhere).Three charactersalsomakeiteasiertoremember.

lian2yi1qun2

Connect clothes skirt

dress

wei2jin1

Surround cloth

scarf

Wei2meanssurround,andthecharacteris itselffullyenclosed.Thecharacterforclothis apictureofaclothlyingoverthearm.Inthis caseitcouldbewrappedaroundaneck.

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Hanzi

Pinyin
yao1dai4

Char-bychar
Waist belt

English
belt

Notes
Theyao1characterisaconfusionofthings but isyao4forwantand isyue4for monthorflesh(aswithbodyparts).Moon wantdoesntgetclosetowaistforme butstudiesshowchangesovertimefroma womanfigurewithhandsonherwaist (body).Woman()canstillbeseenonthe bottomrightsideofthischaracter.Dai4 alsohasmanymeaningsanduses,butbelt andbringarethetoptwo(alongwithzone andcarry).

yu3san3

Rain umbrella

umbrella

Umbrellasforsunaremorecommonthan thoseforraininChina(atleastinsummer!) Bothcharactersarequitevisualfor representingtheirmeanings.

mao4zi

Hat nounmarker Wear / pierce Clothes

hat

Thehatcharacterismadeofclothonthe left,andontherightwehavecoverover theeyes (, ). Tocontrastwiththenoundress,thisverb meansputonclothes.Yourarmspierce thearmholes.

chuan1yi1

Todress

yan3jing4

Eye Mirror (or lens)

eyeglasses

Theleftsideofyan3heremeanseye;the right makesaphoneticcontribution.For Jing4,remember ismirror.Andsimilar butquitedifferentinappearanceto whichisyan3jing(neutraltoneonjing)for eyes(seeset13).

yi1fu

Clothes Service

clothes

Thefucharacterhereisthesameasin fu2wu4yuan2,thegenericwordfor serviceperson(fu2wu4beingservice).The fucharacterhasmoonontheleft,think ofsteeringaboatbythemoon,orinservice toit.

shou3tao4

Hand cover

gloves

Wewillseehandagain () andtao4can meansetorcover.Soasetofclothes yi1tao4yi1fualsomeansasuit.ButHand isyourbigclueforrecognizingthewordfor Gloves. 21

The characters and pictures for set three are presented below.

22

4.

Set 4 Adjectives 1

Key words in this set that will help with learning other words include the following:

Gao1or meanstall,andisahighfrequencyword.Itisusedbothintheliteral sense(asinatallperson)butalsoforhighlevel(thegau1kao1orhightestis theshortnameforexampleistheChinesecollegeentranceexamination).Youcan thinkofitasatallbuilding.Butdontconfuseitwith,gong1,meaningpalace andoftenusedinrestaurantnamesandsuch.Itlookssimilar.

Se4ormeanscolor.SomewordsforcolorhavetheSe4inthemforclarity; othersred,blackandwhite,neednosuffix(andinfactitwouldbewrongand misunderstoodinmanycontexts).

Bai2or meanswhite,andisusedinnoncolorwordstoo( orming2bai2 meansunderstand,andisliterallybrightwhite). Chang2ormeanslong.Itlooksalittlelikeka3thatwemetearlier,but onlybeforelookingclosely.Thisisahighfrequencywordworthknowingwell.

And you will see below characters for Red and Short, both of which have already appeared as part of other words we have reviewed. Red will appear yet again (in,afamousdish). The table below lists the words in set 4 with information to help you remember and understand them. Afterward, the pictures for the set are printed.

Hanzi

Pinyin
hong2

Char-bychar
Red

English
red

Notes
As described before, think of silk () being dyed at work () and what says work better than a steel ibeam? for use in Chinese festivals (always a sea of red). The first character by itself can be the noun for indigo plant. With the second character, which means color, it means blue. Compare with lan2, , meaning basket and used in lan2jiu2 or basketball. The color lan2, derived from the indigo plant, has the grain radical on top, whereas basket lan2 has the bamboo radical on top as a woven object. 23

lan2se4

Indigo color

blue

Hanzi

Pinyin
huang2 bai2

Char-bychar
Yellow White: drop on the sun. Black or dark

English
yellow white

Notes
Almost looks like a person. Sometimes followed by se4 (color), which helps make it easier to recognize. The character or ri4 means day, and is a picture of the sun with a dot in the middle, made square. Now with a drop (of fire?) on it, it means white. I think of this as a front on view of a black cat seated, looking at me with those eyes. The four little paws might also be the fire radical Here notice the hot coals or flames below the character. This fire radical will be part of other characters, often where the heat is relevant. Sometime fire looks more like the full form character. Above the fire I think I see hand in squished form () and meaning pill or pellet. So we can think of hands throwing coals into the fire to keep it going.

hei1

black

re4

Hot: hands and pellets over fire.

hot

leng3

cold

cold

Left side is the left side of ice, (set 11, ) or two dot water radical; and the right side or ling4, for make or cause. Wen1 by itself can mean warm; it has components water, sun and container (, & ). Nuan3 can mean warm, genial, and is made from (ri4) 'sun' and (yuan2) 'drag', as in the days get warm when the sun drags on. This character has the two-dot water radical next to the familiar character for capital, as in north capital or Beijing (formerly Peking):

wen1nuan3

Warm warm

Warm

liang2

she1wet

Cool: watercapital (Beijing, a cool place) Wet: water and sun on two flowers growing

Cool

wet

This character decomposes as water (three dot, or standard water radical) followed by xian2 or appear, , which is itself made up of day or sun and ye4 or commerce which looks like two flowers growing. Hence: water makes the flowers grow in the sun and makes things WET.

Lv4se4

Green Color

green

Contains silk radical what must be a green plant growing out of a variant of water (normally ). The left hand side of the first char is a squished form of yi1 for clothes; the right hand side is a rare component used in drink and thirsty. The left hand character he4 by itself means coarse cloth, as might have once been called a gunnysack or potato sack. Hence coarse cloth color or brown. Hint: the only color that starts with a cloth radical. 24

he4se4

Potato-sack Color

brown

Hanzi

Pinyin
cheng2se4

Char-bychar
Orange color

English
orange

Notes
The left character means orange as in fruit; the character signals its origin with a left hand side meaning tree (mu4) . The right hand side of the left character is ascend. Climb and orange tree is our clue the only color that starts with the tree radical.

zi3se4

Purple color

purple

The top of the left character is or this (ci3); the bottom is a form of the silk character. The sound, zi3 is close to ci3. The only color beside red with a silk radical.

hui1se4

Grey color

grey

An easy one: a fire under a roof causes smoke; the color of smoke. can also mean dust.

gao1

Tall

tall

As discussed above, a widely used concept word. The picture, too, is a concept: something tall / stacked up.

duan3

Short: arrowbean.

short

Short was used in set 3 short pants or shorts. The right hand side is bean, used often in set 2. Shooting and arrow at a bean, it seems, refers to something short.

chang2

long

long

Historically, might be long hair tied with an ornament. Means long or lasting. Every city in China it seems has a long peace or chang2an1 () boulevard Long and Lasting Peace being the fondest hope of the Chinese people.

The characters and pictures for set four are presented below.

25

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5.

Set 5 Adjectives 2

This set contains additional adjectives. Key words or characters in this set include:

Kuai4asin()isaverycommonsoundandwordcomponent,inpartbecauseof thepopularityoftwoothercharactersinthesamefamily,withthesame pronunciation(initialsound,finalsoundANDtone).Thecharacter means fast.Theleftpartisacompressedformoftheheartradical()whilethe rightpartlookslikeda4orBig()withabentcrossstrokethroughit(likethe oneseeninfive:wu3or ).IvisualizethischaracterasaBigperson,a marathonrunnerwithgreatHEARTrunningandcarryingalongscrollormessage (whichisthebentcrossstroke).Thestoryandthecharacterremindsme wherethewordmarathoncomesfrom.Butnotealsothatkuai4zi(withanoun markerattheend)arewhatwecallChopsticks,andthiskuai4isthesame characterexceptthatitalsohasabambooradicalontop,signifyingawooden artifact().Anothercommonwordforapieceofsomethinglikemoneyis kuai4asinnotethelefthandsideisnowaformof orearth,asina pieceofearth,achunk,aclodofdirt.Lastly,happyiskuai4leor

, so

happybirthdayissheng1rikuai4le(birthdayhappy)andhappynewyearis xin1nian2kuai4le(newyearhappy).Threeofthesekuai4charactershavethe exactsamesoundandtone. Bu4or

isNot,averyimportantdistinctioninanysentence!Soundslikeboo

intermsofanEnglish,nonpinyin,spelling,andbooyaw!(nothave!)andboo doy!(notright!)areimportantphrases.(bu4yao4,bu4dui4)ineverydaylife. Da4 or meansbigandisbestrememberedaspartofthissequence:

, whichisaperson(twoleggedstickfigure,asyoumightdowithyour
ownhandwalkingonatabletop);Bigorapersonwitharmsoutstretchedtolook big,perhapstoscareoffpredators;skyorheavenssothereisnowaline abovetheheadofapersonwitharmsoutstretched;andlastlyhusbanda personwithfourarms,tobetterhelpthemcarefortheirspouse.
27

Hao3,or whichistheverycommonwordgood,andpartofthecommon greetingni3hao3(oryougood,orhello).Thischaracterisawoman() nexttoachild()andhowbettertodescribegoodthanamotherandchild together? Sometimescalledtheroadradical()asseenontheleftandbottomofthese threecharactersforpath(dao4),enter(jin4)andfar(yuan3),canbeseenhere: ,

& . Inthissetitisusedasthefirstpartofthewordforlost:.
formally,itisthegoradicalorchao4().
The complete group of words in this set is described below. Hanzi Pinyin Char-by-char English Notes

More

miao2tiao

Seedlingtwig Thin

Miao2showsagrainradicaloveraricefield(

);henceseedling.Tiaoherecouldshowsmall branches()atthetopofatree().Tiaohere representsanythinglongandthin.

pang4

Fatorplump

Fat

Flesh(ormoon)is();therighthandside (ban4)meanshalfandcontributestothe sound.Fleshandahalf==>plump. Leftcharacteristhewordfast(below);theright sideisliketreewithacrookedhatontop(abit tipsy?). Notanadjective,thiswordmeansgetangry. Sheng1canmeangivebirth,grow,causeto happen,life,etc.(birthdayissheng1ri4).This qi4isliketheqi4incarqi4che()but withoutthelefthandwaterradical.Thinkofa womanshoutingvaporsduringchildbirthtohelp rememberthismeansgetangry.

kuai4le4

Fastpleasure Happy

sheng1qi4

Birthvapor

Angry

28

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-by-char

English

Notes

qiang2

Strong

strong

Theleftsideisabigstrongbowforarchery;the rightsideisobscureandletsthinkofitasperson holdingthebowaSTRONGperson.This charactermightbeonyourapplianceforthe highsetting. Thismeansweakorfeeble,soyoucanthinkof thisasadrawingofthewingsofayoungbird,not yetbigandstrong.Thischaractermightbeonthe loworweaksettingofyourdryerorheater. Womannu3()nexttochildzi3().Astheu innu3hasanumlautandispronouncedwith curledtongue,itisproperlyshownasnv3(witha v)inpinyin.Bothcharacters(orhalvesofthis char)aresomewhatpictographic. Huai4meansbadorbroken.Spoiled.Notgood leftoutontheground(earth)andspoiled. Zui4formostcanbeusedtomodifyother adjectivesbad,close,faretc.WhenIlookatthis characterIseedayorsun()overear() nexttoagain().IthinkofmyMOSTfavorite musicIwanttohearagainanyday.

ruo4

Weak

Weak

hao3

Good

good

huai4

Bad:Earth+ not MostGood

bad

zui4hao3

best

bu4cuo4

Notwrong

Notbad

Cuo4meanswrongandacommonexpression forprettygoodisbu4cuo4(thecinpinyinis trickyatfirstworthseriousstudy).Seeseparate infooneachofthesecharactersinthisset. Averyveryimportantcharacterandword.I visualizeabirdflyingwronglyintotheceiling andbeingstopped.NO!itcantflyupintothesky THROUGHtheceiling!!Notethatthecharacteris pronouncedwithafallingtoneBu4butwhen precedingafourthtone(asinbu4cuo4or bu4dui4)itispronouncedwitharisingtone:bu2. Asnotedintheintro,aheartradicalontheleft, stickfiguringrunningamarathonwithgreat heart,carryingascrollacrosshisbodygiveus kuai4forFAST. Mi3ismadefromthecharacterforrice,mi3( )ontheroadradical.Ifthebirdseattherice trailyouareleavingontheroad,youwillbe LOST.Thesecondcharacter,lu4,isonalmost
29

bu4

Not

not

kuai4

Fast

fast

mi2lu4

Loseroad

lost

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-by-char

English

Notes everycitystreetsigninChinaandmeans road.Roadismadefromfoot()plus each().

da4

Big

Largeor big Tinyor micro

Apersonwiththeirarmsspreadwide, indicatinglargeortryingtoappearbig. Useformicroortiny(Microsoftiswei1ruan3 usingthischaracter).Acomplexthreepart character,trytomakeyourownstoryoutof thisone.Componentsmightbefootsteps() andstrike();withperhapsmountain() andoneinthemiddleabove().Remember thatbigisasmallorsimplecharacter,and thatTINYiscomplexwithmanystrokes

wei1

Tiny

dui4

Right

Correct

Madeofagain()andinch(),thinkof measuretwice,cutonceasagoodruleof thumbformakingsureyouareRIGHTbefore youtakeanactionyoucannotfix. Theleftside()isacompressedformof gold()ormetal;therightsidelookslike twoadjacentearths()overthesun(). AsaGOLDstandard,earthoverthesun,instead ofvisaversa,isjustWRONG! Ithinkitisbesttoremembera)theheart radicalontheleft;andb)somethingthatlooks likeajollyroundishmaninaclownsuit walkingslowing(maybetheheartradicalisa walkingsticktohelphim).Therightsidebeing astackofsun,sidewayseyeornet,and bottomsittingagainjustdoesntlead anywhereworthwhileinanalyzingtheoriginof thischaracter.Note:wheneveryouleavea restaurant,andperhapssomeoneshouse,they maysayman4zou3walkslowly.Thereis noEnglishequivalent.Itremindsmeofyoung studentsaskingmehowtosayhaveanice dayinChinese.Youcouldbutyouwouldget verystrangelooks.

cuo4

Wrong

Wrong

man4

Slow

slow

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31

6.

Set 6 Verbs 1

The words in this set illustrate the following key concepts for learning Chinese characters:

Kou3,or, representsmouth,oropening(asinthemouthofariver).Thisis foundintwoofouronecharacterwordsforsing() andkiss (),whichboth involvethemouthdirectly,andinthewordforexit(orgooutofthemouth). Chu1(),oremit/goout,isaverb;writtenaschu1kou3or,thiswordis thenounforexitandoftenseenonsigns. Zhao3dao4,or(),representsanexampleofcombiningtwoonecharacter words,bothinthissetseek()andarrive()intoanewwordfind,which seemsverylogical:seekingtothemomentofarrivalatwhatyouseek,givesyou find.

Du2,or,isthefirstcharacterwehaveseenwiththeorwordradical,which means ( yn) words.Thisradicaloftenmarkswordsasbeinglanguageor speechrelated,aswiththefollowingwords:speak(averb),speechortalkand word(bothnouns): ,

and .

Ofcourse,theconnectiontolanguageisless

preciseforwordslikeplease,count,theory(butinthisinstancecanmean talkabout)andremember(,

, , ).
Notes
Thischaracterlookslikeandtome,which wouldbeking(wang2)andmoney(yuan2)or primary.VisualizeaKingplayingwithhismoney.

Hanzi

Pinyin
wan2

Char-bychar
play

English
play

lai2

come

come

Thischaractercanbeseenasrice(mi3) witha lid() onit.Whencookedunderalid,ricewillbe ameal,towhichyoushouldCOME.

32

Hanzi

Pinyin
qu4

Char-bychar
Go

English
go

Notes
Iprefertoseethischaracterasapersonridinga bicycle,orashipcomingstraightatme.Itis composedof (orearth)on whichisa radicalbyitself,butmostfamiliarin and : cloudandtransport(cloudsonroad). is alsofoundin , and, butwithnoeasy associationIcanexplain.

zhao3dao4

Seek+arrive

find

Thecombinationofseekandarrive;seethe individualcharacters,describedinthisset.

jin4

Enter

enter

Asimplifiedcharacter,itiscomposedof (kai1) foropenandtheradical.Thinkoftheopen roadasawaytoaccessorENTERnewplaces.

chu1kou3

Leave + egress

exit

Asdescribedabove,thenounforexitismadeup ofchu1forleaveoremitandkou3formouth (literalorconceptual).Chu3ismadeupoftwo mountainorshan1characters()(forfallingoff themountain=emit,leave)

zhao3

Seek: hand+spear

seek

Thischaractercombinesthenotionofself,or hand,withspearordagger.Speculationisthat onegetsaspearinhandbeforegoingtoSEEKan enemy(orprey).

dao4

Arrive or until

arrive

Visualizethecharactersleftsideasanarrow hittingitsmark(orARRIVING)andtherightsidea knifetocutitout(andgivingthecharacterits sound). isthesideradicalformof orknife (dao4).

reng1

throw

throw

Theleftsideisthehandradical,whichisourbest clue.Thinkoftherightsideasafishingpollandline youcastwithaTHROWingmotion.Therightside, , is most familiar from the word for milk: (nai3).

wen3

Kiss

kiss

Themouth(kou3)ontheleftsideisthefirst clue;perhapsthepictureshowsasmallanimal ontheright(dog)kissinga(square)face(tothe 33

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
left).Therighthandsidebyitselfwouldmean donot!(wu3)andisseenonnosmoking signs.

kan4

See or look

look

Alwaysdescribedasshowingahand () shading theeyes () tosee(botharecharactersarein set13).

du2

Read

read

Theleftsideindicatesthewordmayhave somethingtodowithwords.Therightsideisby itselfsell(),orbuy()withaor tencharacterontop.Iprefertothinkofthis characterassomethingdonebythehead() tou2ofascholar()shi4,eventhoughthisis notquiteexactintermsofstroketypes.

chang4

Sing

sing

Theleftside indicatesmouth;therightside hastwosetsoftwomouths () andmakesme visualizeawholegroupSINGing!Ofcourse is dayorsun,butsometimesitcanbeamouthwith avisibletongue!

xiao4

laugh

laugh

Herethe (yao1)lookslike (tian1),except notethetophorizontalstrokeslopesdowntothe left(inxiao4).Imagineapersonslightlybentin laughter,armsoutstretchedwithabamboo radicaloverhead.Perhapsinthiscasethe bambooappearstobeeyes,squintingin laughter. Theleftsideofpao3isacompressedformof orfoot.Therightside isbao3andmeans wrap.

pao3

Run: foot-wrap.

run

zou3

Walk

walk

Similartozu2forfoot(),zou3canbe visualizedasapersonwithabigfootwalking. Butitisconstructedasearth()ontopof stop(),wherestophasbeenshiftedfor inclusionunderneathasintobe(shi4)and decide(ding4):and. 34

Hanzi

Pinyin
fei1

Char-bychar
Fly

English
fly

Notes
ThewordforflightinChinacomesfromasimple stickfigureofaCrane,headfacingleft,tail slightlyup,wingssymbolizedbythepairof strokesontheback. Theleftsideis,asinclaw(zhao3).Thisisthe samezhao3asinfeng4zhao3,whileliterally meaningphoenixclaw,itisthechickenfeet widelyconsumedasfood.Therightsideis ba2,indicatingthepa2soundherefortheword. Also,noticehowgua1()ormelon(settwo)is differentfrom zhao3orclaw!

pa2

Climb

climb

Anothernote:theba2partofclimbisoftenusedinnamesforbarsandtorefertojiu3baor ,aplaceforalcoholicdrinks(beingalcohol).hasthesamesound,andisthecharacter forba4baorfather.

35

36

7.

Set 7 Verbs 2

Setsevencontainsafewmoreverbsoractionrelatedwords.Italsoillustratesadditionalgeneral principlesinrecognizingChinesecharacters.Thesespecificwordscomewithsomeadditional lessonsasprovidedbelow.

Chi1()andhe1()foreatanddrinkbothhavekou3()ontheleftside,as theyinvolvethemouth.

Kai3che1ordrive()readsliterallylikeopencar.Kai3()hasmany generalusessuchasstart,begin,andoperateinadditiontoopen.SoChinese personwillusekai3toturnonalightorotherswitch(andguan1()orclose toshutitoff);trainstationsignswillshowtheleavingtimeordeparturegates/ tracksusingtheusingcharacter(amongothers).

Zuo4()forsitisusedbothasintakeaseatandasinrideatrain.Further confusioncancomefromthethreecommoncharacters/wordspronouncedzou4:

, , . Thefirsttwowordsmeandoormake,butthefirstismostly
usedinthesenseofmanufactureorproduce(theverb);whereasthelatteris usedinthesenseofdoing,asinhomeworkoremployment( or).To makemattersworse(orjustpotentiallymoreconfusingforthebeginner),the samesound(initialandfinal,zuo)withadifferenttone,isusedforthecommon wordsyesterday(2ndtone)andleft(3rdtone):() and . Solistenfor thosetones! Ting2()inpark,whichmeansliterallystopcar,hasalefthandsideperson radical.Notethat istheformofwhenitappearsaspartofacharacter.Note alsothedifferencefrom,whichisstepforward(andfoundatthebeginningof tinyorwei4()and()xing2/hang2.
37

Hanzi

Pinyin
shuo1

Char-bychar
Say

English Notes
speak Theleftsidecluesthewordhastodowithwords;the rightsideshowssoundscomingupoutofthemouth() overaperson(legsforthebodyareshowas ).

zuo4

Sit

sit

Twopeople()sittingontheground().Ivisualizethis characterasapersonseatedinanarmchairfacingme directly.Whateverjogsyourmemoryhereisgood.

kai1che1

Operate (start / open) Car

drive

Che1forvehiclewascoveredinset1.Someremember kai1fromitsoriginfromtwohandsreachingfromthe sidestoremoveaboltfromthedoor;othersthinkofthe OPENingcreatedbydrawingbackaBow(wherethe middlelineisthearrow). Itmighthelptoknowthattheleftandrightpartsare Che1forvehicleand or zhuan1 for special, but I recommend seeing the followed by squiggles for TURNing.

zhuan3

turn

turn

ting2che1

Stop - car

park

Theting2characterisonmillionsofred,octagonalstop signsinChina,makingiteasiertoabsorbifyouare livinginChina.Thattheleftsidethepersonandthe rightsidemashingthewordfortall (gao1)ontoa nail(ding1)(andbyitselfmeanspaviliona tallstructuremadewithnails)doesntreallyleadto stop!.LearnStop;thenrememberpark=stop+ car.

ku1

To cry

Tocry

Seetwoeyesonastickfigure,withateardroponthe rightside.Thinkcry.[Scholarsmightseetwomouths overadog(),howlingenoughtomakeyoucry.But thisseemsunnecessarilycomplex.]

pa4

to fear

Tofear

Lefthandsideisheartradical( becomes ; dont confuse it with tree: ). Right side is white (from set 4, drop of / on the sun). Heart races; skin goes white (pale) > when you become afraid. 38

Hanzi

Pinyin
chou1yan 1

Char-bychar
take out from + smoke; emit smoke

English Notes
Smoke (cigarettes, pipe,etc) Chou1hashandradical()nexttofrom();the rightsideillustratesthemeaning(takeoutfrom).Yan1is seenalloverChinaatplacessellingcigarettes.Itmeans smokeorCigarette,andembodiescausefire.Itis madefromfire()andcause().Further: yin1wei4 means because (set 8, next).

ti1zu2qiu2 Kick-foot-ball

Play soccoer

Qiu2meansballandisusedinmanysportswords,from pingpongtobasketball.Ti1hasthesameleftsideas or, and zu2 for kick is quite similar to walk () (both in set 6). Try to remember foot and ball; the rest will fit together easily.

da3wang3 Hit net ball qiu2

Playtennis

Herethenotionofplayishit,versuskickforsoccer. Wang3isagreatcharacter,inthisageoftheInternet;it oftenmeansthenetorinternet.Sohitnetball meansplaytennis.

you2yong 3

Swim-swim

swim

You2meansswim;ithasthreeparts,sortof,startingwith athreedotwaterradicalandendingwithchild().The middlecontainsfang1()forsquareorplace(perhapsa pool).Otherwise,itissortofrandom.Thesecond characterhasboththesamewaterradicalandthefull watercharacter(),withadropontopofthat!Water everywhere!Swimmingitis.

chi1

Eat

eat

Thischaractercombinesmouthwithqi3forbeg(), whichsuggestseating.

he1

Drink

drink

This character combines mouth with he2 () which is a general question word (how? Why?) In this case, the mouth is drinking.

shui4jiao4

Sleep-perceive

sleep

Shui4lookslikeabednexttoadresser,seenfrom above.Thecomponentsareeyeormu4()andchui2 ()forhangdown.Jiao4isalsopronouncedjue2to meanperceive(feelorsense),butasjiao4italso meanssleep.Jiao4hasatopasinxue2()andthe 39

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English Notes
bottomisJian4()orsee,asinthecommonparting wordsseeyouagain,seeyoulaterorliterally againseezai4jian4().Twofourth(falling)tones helpdistinguishshui4jiao4fromshui3jiao3() whichareboileddumplings!

qi3chuang 2

Rise (from) bed

Getup; arise

Qi3ismadeupofzou3()orgoandtheji3()to suggestthecharacterssound.Chuang2isthewordfor bed,andweseewoodormu4()underaguang3, whichlookslikearoof().Thisisfittingasbedscan bemadeofwoodandundertheprotectionoftheroof. Sothiswordiscomposedofthewordsforrisingup andbed.

zhan4li4

Station - stand

Standup

Thefirstcharacterzhan4meansstandandisusedin trainstation/standorhuo3che1zhan4() whichwouldthenbefirecarstationoractually railwaystation.Noticethatleftpartofzhan4that givesitthemeaningstationorstandisitselfa character,theoneontherightli4orstand().Can meanstandorerect.Withtwostandshere,thisis easytoassociatewithstandup. Luo4isnotastraightforwardcharacter.Grainradical ontop,waterradicalontheside.Remainderofthe characterisge4(),whichmeanseach.Eachseed ofgrainordropofwater?Hmm.Isuggestmaking yourownstoryforthisone.

luo4

Fall / drop / go down

fall

da3

Hit but also get, play, etc.

hit

Generalizedverbthatdependsonitsobject. Componentsarehandradicalandding4thefourth heavenlystem(oh,nowitmakessense.).Needto justlearnthisone.Verysimple.

40

41

8.

Set 8 Queries 1

Set eight contains some words that are very helpful in forming sentences that are questions. Not that in Chinese, one way of forming a question is to add the question particle to the end of an otherwise declarative sentence. So this is your wife becomes is this your wife? when ma () is added to the end of the sentence. Declaration: Zhe4 shi4 ni3 de tai4tai. Or . Question: ? (Zhe4shi4ni3detai4taima?).Notethatsentencesthatarequestionsbyvirtueofthe factthattheyusespecificquestionswords,suchaswhen,whereorwhattimeorhowmany (asinhowmanypeopleareinyourfamily)donotneedamainterrogativeparticleattheend. Otherimportantaspectsofthiswordsetareasfollows:

Shen2me()representsthebasicconceptofwhat,andisusedbothinthe wordsforwhenandwhy.

Chi1()andhe1()foreatanddrinkbothhavekou3()ontheleftside,as theyinvolvethemouth.

Whyiswei4shen2me,or(),whichisalmostliterallyforwhat (reason).Thewei4characterheremeansfororonaccountofsowhyhasthe senseofforwhatreason.Similarlyshen2meshi2houisalmostliterallywhat timeset9,next,introducesshi2houasthewordfortimeinthesenseofat whattime(versiondurationoroclock).Shen2me()isalsothefirstpart ofthepopularphraseforsomethingasinshen2medong1xior(). Dong1xi,forthing,isintroducedinthenextsetandisliterallyeastwest.So: didyoubuysomething?Iswordbywordyouboughtsomethingma?Ni3 mai3shen2medong1xima?Or?

Shui2()(andoftenshei2)isthewordforwho,andthecharacterlooksalot likethecharacterfordifficult(nan2)andpush(tui1)whichareand. Thecommonelementis,describedbyscholarsasbirdwithashorttail,but notawordorcharacteritself.Itissuedinadozenorsohighfrequencycharacters, andmanymorebesides.

42

Yin1wei()andYing1gai(),orbecauseandshould,startwith characterswithsimilarsoundsthesameinitialsoundandtone,butonehasa finalsoundrepresentedbygthatisveryeasilynotheardbyforeigners especiallysincethesecondcharacterafterYing1startswiththegsoundanyway! Acasuallistenercanbeforgivenforthinkingbothwordsmightstartwiththesame character.

Na3li()meanswherebutisusedbyChinesealsoasaresponsetoa complementitshowshumility,asthepersonlooksleftandrightandsaysna3li, na3limeaningwhereisthis(good,great,learned,whatever)personyouare sayingnicethingsabout.Chinese,onceuponatime,wereputoffbyforeigners thatsaidthankyouinresponsetoacomplimentthiswouldhavebeen interpretedasgreathubrisiffromanotherChinesebutincreasingexposureto theoutsideworldhasvastlymutedtheimpactthatsuchanexchangenowhas, particularlyamongChinesefamiliarwithforeignerways.

Explanationsandmemoryaidsforthewordsinset9follow.

Hanzi

Pinyin
shui2

Char-bychar
who

English Notes
who Scholarssaytherightsideevolvedfromthedrawing ofashorttailbird.Itisanimportantcharacter componentsofindingawaytorememberitisuseful saytherackoffeathersonthebackofabird whosebeakyouseeonthetopleft,andanextra headfeatherleaningforward.Thatthisuseofshort tailbirdhavingthewordradicalcanbe yourcluethatthissymbolicwordisaplaceholder fortheunknownbirdwho. Theleftcharacter,Shen2,hasalefthandperson radicalandarightsideoftenhencetenpeople who,inthiscase,formWhat(wedontknow WHATthetenpeoplearefor).Themecharacter aftershen2isasuffixcharacterthatformsvarious adverbsandinterrogativesitdoesntoccurby itself.Thispairisahighfrequencyword. Bothcharactershereareimportant.Na3()has threecomponents:Mouth,somethingthatalmost lookslikemonthbutisnot,andthentheBA componentthathasameaningofHillormound associatedwithit.Sowehavemouthand 43

shen2me

what

Na3li

Loosely: whichplace

where

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English Notes
not.Inset9weseethatbyitselfis that,andwhenfollowedbyanrsounds,is there().ItisasifourMOUTHwantstoask whereisthisspecialmoonhangingoverahill withstreamershangingoff.WHERE????The characterhereis,whenbyitself,pronouncedwitha 3rdtone,andcanmeaninside,aswellasvillage/ hometown/nativeplace.Itsuseasvillage derivesfromitstwocomponentsfield()and earth().Afieldontheearthaparticularplace.

shen2me shi2hou wei4 shen2me

Whattime

when

Seethediscussionofwhatinthissetand shi2houfortimeinset9.

Onaccount ofwhat?

why

ForWei4,thinkoforli4whichmeans strengthorpower,picturedasanelephant. Perhapsthehorizontalstrokethatextends rightwardandcurlsdownisthepowerfulelephants trunk.Thenunderstandthetwocharacters (dian4ordrops)ashandsplacedonthesideofthe elephanttoGUIDEit().Givingitareason,aWHY, togoinaparticulardirection.Guidingtheelephant signifyingwhy. Firstcharacterisda()insideasurround, representingabed().Abigmanlyingona mattressprovidesthemanifestationoftheabstract BECAUSEWHYishejustlyingdown?BECAUSE! (hecan?)Toreinforcetheconceptofcausality,we alsofindthesecondcharacterofwei4,usedin why.

yin1wei

Causeon accountof

because

ying1gai1 Should should

should

Ying2()deriveshistoricallyfromacharacterthat wasparteagle,partheart,gettingatanoble notionofdutyorshould.Nowthesimplified characterlookslikeanabstractofsomethingthree flowers?growingunderafactoryshed(,or chang3)thathasachimneytoletoutmoistureand circulateair.ThreeflowersSHOULDgrowinthe shed. Gai1isjustamesswehavethewordradicalon theleft(),andthephonetichai1ontheright( )whichwealsoseeelsewhereinthewordforkids 44

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English Notes
orhai3zi().Sinceitwonthelptodescribethis symbolasderivedfromtwelfthandlastinthecycle ofanimals,orboar,onceagainweleavethejobof creatingastorytothestudent.

zong3shi 4

TotalIs

always

Zong3()asasimplifiedcharacterlooksliketwo earsorhornsontopofafaceontopoftheheart radical.Itstraditionalformisfarmorecomplex,and soagainwewillignorethehistoricalderivation. Envisioninsteadabisontwohorns,bigface,and body(withabigheart)thatwasALWAYSpresent ontheGreatPlainsofAmerican.Atleastuntilthey werent.Buttheyareback.Andyoucaneatthemat Teds.Shi4inthiscaseistheveryimportantand perhapsnumber2frequencywordafterde() thewordIS.Learnit.Thefinalchapter,extrawords, givesaderivationforthischaractersform. Thecong2character,from,ismadeoftwopeople, onefollowingtheother,walkingFROMtheirvillage. Lai2forCOMEisdefinedinset6,andbu4forNOTis definedinset5.representstheadverbialat alltimes,always,sotheNOTofthatisnever.

cong2lai2 bu4

Atalltimes NOT

never

you3shi2 hou

Have(at) times

sometimes You3forhaveisdefinedbelow(inthisset).Shi2hou isagaintimeasdefinedinset9.Takentogether theyconveyhave,attimesinthesenseof sometimes.

deng3

wait

Thebambooradicaloveracharacterthatisitself earth()overinch().Wesawinchasa componentofshirtinset3;andearthaspartof potatoinset2.Wealsosawthebambooradicalover ()inkuai3ziorchopsticksinset5andxiao3or laughinset6.Sinceearthoverinchgivesussi4 ortemple(),wecanthinkofpatientmonks waitingandprayingalldayatthetemple(madeof bamboo). Haveissymbolizedhereasthecombinationof rightside(meansright,anditborrowsthe crossinglines)andmoon(orflesh)whichis(). Sotobeontherightsideofthemoonistobein favorwiththegodsandHAVEgoodfortune,and hencemanythings.

you3

have

have

45

Hanzi

Pinyin
yi1dian1

Char-bychar
Onedot

English Notes
Alittle Thecomponent()occursinthecharactersfor storeandstand( and )dian4andzhan4. Thinkofitasapotwithaventedlidonitinthis case,sittingonafire.Thedotsarethedropletsof hotsoupthatcomeoutofthevent.

bang1zhu 4

help

Bang1meanshelp;thebottomcomponent()is jin1orcloth(seescarfinset3).Zhu4ismadefrom qie3()andli4forstrength()andalsomeans help.Rememberonecomponentoneachside cloth,powertorecognizethisword. Ke3containskou3()andispartofthewordsfor maybe(ke3neng2)andbut(ke3shi4).Yi3isa smallandimportantcharacterwithmanyuses:in thewordsforafter(yi3hou4),therefore(suo3yi3), aswellas(yi3ji2),before(yi3qian2),think incorrectly(yi3wei2).Soifyouarenotallowedto speakbu4ke3yi3();ifyoudontknowhow toospeakChinesebu4hui4shuo1guo2yu3( ).

ke3yi3

Mayusing

Can/may

hui4

Beable,or meet

Beable

Thischaracter()canrepresentbeable,asina person()whocanridetheclouds().Oritcan bemeetascloudsmightmeetunderaroof. Hencewehavearoof,oraperson,over()or yun2,clouds.ThisCharacterisALSOmeet,also hui4,inset16.

gei3

Give

give

Thischaractercombinessilk()andcloseorshut( ),he2.OncesomeoneGIVEsyoumoney,youclose itintoyoursilkpurse.

qian2

money

money

Qian2ismadeof()ontheleft,thecompressed formofjin1()orgold,commoncomponentfor soundslikejian1whichissymbolicoftwo daggers().Thecharacterreflectsthatthe ancientsmightusetwodaggers(orguardswith knives)toguardtheirGOLDormoney.

46

47

9.

Set 9 Shop Etc

This set contains a variety of words that can be useful when shopping: talking about it, doing it or thinking about it. We will start to see more and more connections between the 288 words and hundreds of characters used in this set.

Hanzi

Pinyin
mai3

Char-bychar
Buy

English
buy

Notes
Thetraditionalcharacterismorelikeanetover money,buthasevolved,thenbeensimplified,so nowitisjustahorizontalstrokewithhook (fragmentforbent,sometimeszhe2)overhead ()ortou2(seeset13also).Irememberthenet (tocatchmoney)asdroopinglikeavolleyballnet, givingthecharacterthethirdfallingrisingtone.

mai4

Sell

Sell

Nowwehave()overthecharacterforbuy( )sorememberthatsellingistentimes harderthanbuying.Historicallytherewasafull ontop(forgoout,set6),toshowselling ratherthanbuying(takinggoodsIN),butitwas simplifiedto()andthenfinallyto().Note onlytonedistinguishesitfromBUY(3rdvs.4th).

dong1xi

Eastwest

Thing

Eastandwestareimportantcharactersby themselves,oftenusedtosignifythingsfrom orientalandoccidental,orofthefareastor thewest(westerncivilization).Eastlookslikea combinationofche1forvehicleandjing1for capital( and);westlooksalittlelikejiu3 or()foralcoholicdrink.Someseethesun shiningoverthehorizonaboveatree(henceinthe EAST);andforWEST,abirdsittingonanest(since birdsgotoroostwhenthesunsets).Shen2me dong1xiiswhatthingorsomething.

zhe4

This

This

na4

That

That

Combines()and()wen2(languageor literature)andchuo4(go).Focusonthecrossed strokesforindicatingTHIS. Veryhighfrequencywordinspokenlanguage. Ofteninna4georthat(thing)_.Alsoa componentofna3inna3ror()where? analternativetona3li,alsowhere,inset8.But thelefthandsideisNOTyue3()(thehorizontal linesextendfurthertotheleft)butclose!!

48

Hanzi

Pinyin
zhe4xie1

Char-bychar
This(plural)

English
these

Notes
Xie()canmeansome,sozhe4xieisafrequent formforindicatingthese.Thexie1characteris composedof()forci3,meaningthis(partof ru2ci3forlikethis,forexample)and()for two,asinmultiplethisthese.

dou1

All

all

Thecomponentsarezhe3()and()fu4 usuallymeaningonewhoandcity(orhill) respectively.Somehowthisisthoughttoconvey theauthorityofthecapitalcityoverALLpeoples. Highfrequencyword. Recognizethecomponent()ormu3,for mother;plusthetoppieceoftwostrokes.Witha waterradicalinfront,itbecomes()orhai3for oceanorseaasinShanghai().

mei3

Every

every

duo1shao Manyfew

Howmuch

Eachcharacterisahighfrequencywordinitsown right:many()andfew().Manyisindicated bysomethingdoubledinthiscase,theevening moon.Fewisindicatedbysmall()withan elongateddropordotstrokejustasbig() ismadeintotheadverbtoo()withthe additionofanextrastroke.Somany/fewisa wayofaskinghowmany.Notealso:little/big( )meanssize.

nan2ren2

Maleperson

man

Thesymbolforamale,nan2,iscomposedoffield ()andpower(orstrength)();menworkin thefields.

nv3ren2

Femaleperson

woman

Astickfigurewoman,distinguishedfrom()or genericpersonbythesubstantialbodyportion, symbolicofchildbearingcapacity.Notethepinyin hereavee(V)indicatingausoundwith umlaut(orcurledtongue).Thatis,insteadof, weuseVwhichcanbecombinedwithtone markswithlesscomplication. Thehai2characteriscomposedofthe()zi3or childcharactercombinedwith()thelastofthe twelveheavenlybranches(andasymbolicdrawing ofaboar).Alsousedinxiao3hai2r()for littleone/smallchild.

hai2zi

Child(noun marker)

kids

49

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English
open

Notes
Starttheday,turnon,begin.See()kai1in enter(set6)anddrive(set7).Thetwohands reachinguptoopenthedoorbyremovingthebolt acrossitdiscussedbysomescholarsis unconvincing;anarcherabouttoshootanarrow worksbetterforme.Theuseof()fordooris moreidiographic.Themen2characterusedto makethewordsIandyoupluralis()this onewithapersonradicaltotheleftaperson standingbythedoor.

kai1men2 Opendoor

guan1me n2

Closedoor

Close

Closeupshop.Turnoff.Shutoff.Guan1means close.Besttothinkofthischaracteras fundamental,madeupof(twohorns)and(),the formerbeingavariantof()oreightandthe latermeaningskyorheaven.Mnemonic:onthe eightday,aftercreatingtheworldandeverything therein,itsmakerrestedorCLOSEDupshop.

dian3zho ng1

Dots(on)clock Timeoclock

Dian3meansdotsandzhong1meansclock.So 4dotsontheclock=fouroclock.Dian3isa frequentcharacter,madefrom()andthefour dotsformofthefireradical.Thinkofthisasapot overafirethrowingoffdotsofhotliquid. (Note:alittlebitissaidyi1dian3dian3,or .)Zhong1herehasasquishedformofthegold ormetalradicalontheleft()and()orzhong1 (center)ontheright. isasimplifiedformof wordsforbellandclock.Rememberthephonetic zhong1(asinthemiddlekingdom,or akaChina).

shi2jian1

TimeSpace between

Time (duration)

Thisshi2formoftimemadefrom()and() connotesdurationbyshowingdaysmeasuredin inches.Jian1hererepresentsroom(youcan seethroughaordoorwaytothewindowthe inside)ortheroombetweenthings,thegap. Hencebothcharacterssuggestduration.

Sh2hou

Time

Time(point intime)

Thisformoftimeisoftenused(seewheninset 8).Onthesecondcharacter,thinkofthetop, backwardpointinggizmoasthehatonthe() character(shi3,meansarroworspear,butlooks likeaperson)withaperiscope,allowinghimto lookbackward.Butthehou4Iusuallythinkof 50

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
is()whenIhearthiswordisthesoundusedin attheback(hou4mian)orafterward(yi3hou4). Replacetheanimalradicalwiththeperson radicalinfrontofthistimerelatedhouandyou getthehou2inmonkeyhouzior()!

da4xiao3

Bigsmall

Size

Aswithdou1shao3(many+few=howmany) da1xiao3(big+small=size).

51

52

10.

Set 10 Cooking

Thewordsinthissetpertaintocookingandmorebasicfood,particularlyfooditemsused incooking. Somehighlights:

Notethesimilaritiesinformbetweengoose,chickenandduck:,and

Notemanycookingwordsandcharactersstartwiththefire()radical,huo3and theremainingpartofacharacterwillusuallycontributetoorsuggestitssound. Notesoup,scaldinghotandsugararealltangwithdifferenttones. ThenamesofChinesedishesoftenincludeacharacteraboutthepreparation:seeset 12.

Hanzi

Pinyin
chao3

Charby char
Fry

English
fry

Notes
Madefromthecomponentsfire() indicatingacookingwordandfew(), suggestingtoputonahotfireforafew minutes:stirfry.Friedrice: or chao3fan4.

hui4

Braise

braise

Madefromthecomponentsfire() indicatingacookingwordandhui4 whichwehaveseeninsets8(beable)and set16(meet).Herewecanthinkofheating manywetanddryingredientstogether hencetheymeetinthepotforan extendedperiod. Againwehavethecomponentzhe3,or onewho()[aswesawin inset9for all]andthecomponentfourdotsoffire alongthebottom.Visualizeatwolayerpot withfireonthebottomandaremovable toplikeadoubleBOILER.
53

zhu3

Boil

boil

Hanzi

Pinyin

Charby char
roast

English

Notes

shao1

roast

Madefromthecomponentsfire() indicatingacookingwordand(yao2)or, usuallyreferringtoafamoushistorical emperor(orhiswisdom,etc).Probably usedhereforphoneticreasonstosuggest thesound.

rou4

Meat

meat

Thisisoftencalledapictureofmeat.It canmeanmeatfromanimals,oreventhe meat(pulp)ofafruitormelon. Charactersrelatedtomeatoftencontain( )asacomponent(hencethereferences tofleshormoonsymbolinthese notes.)InChina,genericmeatispork;in theUS,itusuallymeansbeef.

zhu1rou4 Pigmeat

pork

Oftenusedinacontextwhereyouneedto bespecificthatyoumeanpork,whichis oftenassumed.Againwehavethezhe3 component()thistimewithaphonetic contributionwithananimal(quan3) radical().

niu2rou4 Cowmeat

beef

Thefigureof()evolvedfromaschematic ofacow.Itseemstohavelostonehorn, andtheleftoneisdrooping,butthatis whatthescholarssay.Looksabitlike Nian2oryear(). Thelefthandsideisyou4()meaning again.Therightsideisniao3()for bird(occursinduckandgoosetoo, below).Dontconfuseniao3withma3() whichishorseorwu1()whichiscrow!

ji1

chicken

chicken

yu2

fish

fish

Thischaracterisapictureofwhatit representsafish.Thetopstrokes representthehead,()isthebody,above

54

Hanzi

Pinyin

Charby char
sheep

English

Notes
fortail.

yang2

sheep

Thischaracterisadiagramofasheeps headorfacehornsontop,noseat bottom.

dou4fu

Bean Rotten

tofu

Thedou4characterrepresentsadishfor food.Thefu3charactermeansrotten,and hascomponentsfu3()overrou4(). Thisfu3ismadefromguang3()forwide orbuildingandfu4()forpay.Andthis fu4ismadefromren2orperson()and inch(cun4).Isuggestyoulookforthe beancharacterfollowedbyacomplex characterwitha overtheabove collection,keyingonatthebottom.

ya1zi

Duck(noun duck indicator)

Thefirstcharacterhasalefthandsideof jia3contributessound,andtherightside niao3givesusthebirdfamily indication.Irememberduckhashaving the or "lollipop" left hand side.

e2

Mebird: goose

goose

Theleftsideofthischaracteriswo3()for Iormeaveryimportantword.Sothe mebirdcharactermeansgoose.Note thate2(risingtone)meansgoose;e4 fallingtone,asin(),meanshungry. Thiswordforsouporhotliquidhasawater radicalontheleftandrightsideisa commoncharactercomponentcontributing soundusuallyyang2orsimilar.

55

tang1

Soup

soup

Hanzi

Pinyin
shui3jiao 3

Charby char
Water dumpling (e.g. boiled)

English
dumpling

Notes
Shui3iswaterasseeninset12(icewater) andset15(water),fromadrawingof flowingwater.TheJiao3characteris dumplingtheleftsideindicatingfood andtherightside()thewordfor intersection(manyingredientscome togetherinadumpling).Notealsothat shui4jiao4inset7(differenttonesand characters)meanssleep).

tian2

Tongue sugarcane: Sweet

sweet

Theleftsideistongue(she2)formedbya pictureofatongue()stickingoutofa mouth().Therighthandsideisagan1or sweet()saidtobeapictureofamouth withsomethinginit.Iseeahorseface longmouthwithearsaboveit.Horses lovesweetapples!

tang4

Hotsoup overfire: Scalding

scalding

Thischaracteristang1()orhotsoupover afire().Hence,scaldinghot!4thtone seemsanaturalhere,asexclamationsare oftensoundedwithfallingtones.

tang2

Sugar

sugar

Thischaractercombinesmi3()forrice withtang2()asinTang2Dynasty (surname,derivedfromsymbolsfor poundingriceandmount).Ithinkof thespaceageorangedrinktang,which isessentiallyorangeflavoredSUGAR powder.

56


57

11.

Set 11 Eat Out

Somewordsforeatingout,albeitfromasomewhatWesternperspective:butter,ice,fork,knife, andspoonarenotimportantwordsformostChinese.Largecup,verylargecupandchickenwrap reflectvisitstoStarbucks(,xing1ba1ke4)inChina.OtherwordsJi1Dan4forchicken

eggreflectlifeinChinathatChineseeatmanykindsofeggsduckandchickenbeingthemost common.Butdontassumedanoreggreferstoaneggfromachicken;justasrou4ormeatis probablynotbeef.

Hanzi

Pinyin
niu2nai3

Char-bychar
Cowmilk

English
milk

Notes
Firstcharacter,niu2,iscow(set10,beef).Nai3is milk(orbreast).Theleftsideofnai3isnv3or woman;therightsidecontributessound.Visualize itasamilkcontainer. Suan1meanssourandiscomposedof()and anoldcharacterforwalkslowlywhich contributessound.Sincetheleftsideofsuan1 lookslikejiu3()andrightsidelookslikea verticallyorientedrottingfish,Ithinkofitasmilk spoiltbyalcohol.

suan1nai3

Sourmilk

yogurt

huang2you2

Yellowoil

butter

Eachcharacterisaword[set4,set15].Together themeaningofbutterisclear.

tuo1zhi1

Removefat

skim

Tuo1meanstakeoffandcontainsflesh()or moonanddui4orjoy().Zhi1alsocontains fleshand()forphoneticcontribution,means oilorgrease.

ka1fei1

Soundwords

coffee

Loanword.Ka1containsmouthand()which meansaddbutcontributesthesound.Thisfei1 isonlyreallyusedforcoffeeorcafloan wordsitismouthplus(),awordmeaning notandusuallyappearinginunusually (fei1chang2).

58

Hanzi

Pinyin
bing1

Char-bychar
Ice

English
ice

Notes
Twodotwaterradicalnexttowater(). Historicallyfromtwocrystals,lumpsofice.

pi2jiu3

beer

Pi2iscomposedofmouthand,whichseems tobecomposedofbai2()onshi2()witha pie3strokethroughit()givingpi2itsinitial sound.TheJiu3()characterisimportantand meansalcohol,alcoholicdrink,oreven,when pairedwithstore(dian4)canmean restaurantorhotel()(e.g.placesthatserve alcohol).

pu2taojiu3

Grapeliquor

wine

Pu2taomeansgrape;theonlyotheruseforthis pairofcharactersisinPu2tao2ya2Portugalis .Asthisissound/loanword,withno meaningassociated,Itrytofindtointeresting subcomponentstothecharacterstoremember.In thiscase,notice()inpu2whichispartof pu2fu2,orcrawl;and()whichispartoftao,and isakindofjar.Orbetterstillbothcharacters contain(),whichhasbao3forsoundandboth havegrainradicals,asaplantformakingspirits should.Baobaospirits=wine.

kuai4zi

Chopsticks(noun chopsticks marker)

Kuai4ismadeofkuai4orfast()witha bambooradicalontop()eatfastwiththese bamboosticks! Dan4meanseggandisusedinmanywords foodandsometimesotherwise(hui4dan4refers toabadeggorbadperson).Gao1meanscake andismadeofrice()andgao1()meaning lambwhichjustcontributesthepronunciation/ sound.

dan4gao1

Eggcake

cake

ji1dan4

Chickenegg

egg

SeeChickeninset10;Dan4hasatopandbottom part.Bothareobscure,butreflecteda combinationofreptileandoffspring(tinyworm).I seeafoot(likethebottompartofwalkorfoot( ,)whichisjust steppingonsomething likeanailthroughaboard().SoSteppingona nail=Egg. 59

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English
Chicken wrap

Notes
Thenewcharacterhereisjuan3forwrap (somekindsofspringrollsusethisterminology). Like(),thebottompartsuggestswrap;here thetoppartisalmostguan3or(),hence Juan3.

ji1rou4juan3 Chickenmeat wrap

na2tie3

Soundwords

latte

Na2meanshold,andismadeofshut(he2) overhand().Tie3isthecharacterforIron(see subwayinset1earthiron).Goodwordsto know,butonlyseenatcoffeeshopsthatmake espressoandlatte.

da4bei1

LargeCup

Largecup

Da4isbig;bei1iscupandhastwocomponents wood()andnot().Soarealcupis porcelainnotwood.

Chao1 da4bei1

Superlargecup

Verylarge cup

Chao1meanssurpass;overtake.Madeform zou3(walkorgo)whichis()andzhao4for thesound().Butcanmeansummonso ifyouwalktogetsomeone,tosummonthem, youmustovertakethem.Toovertakebigis tobesuper.UsedalsointheChinesewordsfor superbowl(asinAmericanFootball). The character has roots in the symbols for hand with a dot, thought to relate to crossing fingers, maybe with a stick in it. So perhaps a picture of a hand with a stick in it to eat with.

cha1zi

Fork

fork

shao2

Spoon

spoon

Shao2isusedforladlesandspoonsforcooking, aswellaseatingspoons.Itisapictureofaladle ordipper.

dao1

Knife

knife

Onceapictureofabladeorknife.

60


61

12.

Set 12 Dishes

ThissetofwordsincludesmanythatcanbeusedtoorderChinesefood.Somenotesbeloware followedbyachartwithinformationtohelpyourecognizeandremembereachparticular characterandword. Notesonset12:

Thewordma2inMaPoDouFuismadeusingthecharacter()forhemp;itshows ()orguang3(wideorvast)overtwobundlesofhemp2()whichbyitselfisthe characterlin2meaningforest,woodsorgrove(assen1len2,itisclearlyaforestor largestandoftrees,asyoucanseemanymanytreesinthesecharacters:().So while()isatree,inma2itisusedsymbolicallyasbundleofhemp.( orlin2isalso

acommonsurname.) Continuingwithma2foramoment,thischaracterisalsousedintheexpressions ma2fan()fortroublesome(asinma2fanni3forcouldItroubleyouand bu4ma2fanasinitsnotrouble)andzhi1ma()forsesame.

Notethewordsforsaltandsalty,likethewordsforsugarandsweet,areunrelated. NotealsothatthenamesofChinesedishesareoftenopaque(e.g.eighttreasures, threedelights)ormerelyhintatthedishbyspecifyingthetypeofpreparation(both intermsofcookingboil,braise,quickfry,etc,andintermsofdirectpreparationof oneormoreingredients,asinchop,preserve,dice,cutintostrips,flatten,etc.). Knowingbasiccharacters(forvegetable,soup,grainsandparticularvegetables,meats andfoodshelpsbutisnotalwaysrelevant. Jian4kang1()meanshealthy,andJian4issometimesusedinthenamesof productspromotinghealthbenefits.Itcomesfromthewordforconstruct,jian4 (),withastandingperson()radicalnexttoit(thingsthatbuildstrongpersons). Thisinturniscomprisedofa()yu4character,forhandholdingapenwritingon paper,andtheyin3radical,() forjourney.(Seethefirstcharindietcoke).

Kuai4le()meanshappy;(fasthappy)butthele4characterherecanalsobe pronouncedyue4asin()whichisyin1hue4,andmeansmusic.,andthe
62

character()whichisxing1inbicycleorhang2inbank(yin1hang2or),arethe onlytwosuchbadlybehavedcharacterscoveredinthiscollection.

Hanzi

Pinyin
yan2

Char-bychar
salt

English
Salt

Notes
Inyan2youcanseeadiviningrod() investigatingtheearth()forasaltcake() (asthisthirdcomponentmightbedescribed;it ismin2forvessel,not()forxue4orblood).

xian2

Salty

Salty

Xian2forsalty(liketheOceaninthepicture tile)derivesfromthewordbiteforitsflavor enhancingqualities.Hurtwithmouth, wherehurtis()(ordestroy,xu1)andmouth is().

yi1wan3 mi3fan4

Onebowl cookedrice

Bowlrice Thecomponentsofwan3forbowlincludestone (orshi2)and()whichiswan3and includingforsound(wan3run2isjustlike; wan3ran2isasif).Thewan3partofbowlis composedof over and . Distinguish thiswan3from(),also,wan3,whichmeans completeorfinish.Mi3fan4orcookedrice isdefinedinset2.

xian1

Fresh(fish, sheep) Ma2Po2ToFu (stirfriedtofuin hotsauce)

Fresh

Thesymboloffishtogetherwithsheep(,), twothingstraditionallyeatenjustafter slaughter,isusedforfresh(seeset10). Atraditionaldish,dou4fuwasdefinedinset 10.Ma2()meanshempandisapictureof twobundlesofhemp(thoughyouwillrecognize ()astree)underashelter;po2meansold ladyandispartoftheexpressionlao3po2,a colloquialexpressionsimilartotheEnglishmy oldladyforreferringtoaspouse(seethe() asthebottomcomponent).

ma2po2 dou4fu

mapodofu

jiang4bao4 qie2zi

Sauceexplode eggplant

Eggplantin brownsauce

Eggplant(qie2zi)isfromset2.Jiang4isa frequentfoodwordandmeanssauce,pasteor jamineverythingfrompeanutbutter (hua1sheng1jiang4)tosoysauce(set15). Jiang4contains()onthebottom,whichis 63

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
partof()jiu3seeninwordsforwineandbeer (set11),andinsuan1(sour)asinyogurt(sour milk,alsoset11).Bao4(thischaractercanvary) containsthecharactersforfire/cooking() andarighthandcomponentforthebao4 sound.

gong1bao3 ji1ding1

PalaceProtect/ TreasureChicken Diced(Spicy dicedchicken)

Kungpow chicken

Gong1forpalaceis().Inthetraditional formasmallstrokeconnectstheboxes,going downtotheleft.Witharoofandtwostories,it isapictureofapalace.Thesecondcharacter isusuallyeitherbao3()forprotector()for treasure.Protectisapictureofapersonnextto a(modified)babytheyareprotecting(butnote ()byitselfisdai1forstupid/sillyorstay). Treasureisjade()underaroof().

xiang1cai4 gan1si1

Fragrant vegetable (cilantro)& driedstrips (ofTofu)

Shredded tofuwith cilantro

Xiang1cai4forcilantroisfromset2;Gan1Si1( )isshredded,pressedbeancurd(Tofuor Dou4fu).Gan1()isaboththestativeverb dryandalsomeanshavetodowith. Casuallyni3gan4ma2()meanswhat areyouupto?Si1,silkorthread()isoften usedinfoodwordsforshreddedthings.

bing1shui3 jian4yi2 ke3le4

Icewater Soundwords: healthyhappy Cola

Icedwater Dietcoke

Icefromset11;waterfromset15.Bothcontain Shui3()forwater. MadeupwordJian4fromhealthy (jian4kang1,)(seediscussionabove)and yi2()fromhappyorpleased,followedby ke3le4whichcanmeanamusing.Ke3is fromcaninset8;le4,fromhappy(kuai4le),is discussedabove.

kao3ya1

Roast Duck

Roastduck

Ya1forduckisfromset10;Kao3startswithfire ()toindicatecookingmethod,thenhas() whichgivesthekao3sound(butmeanstogive/ takeanexamination;theprimaryCollege EntranceExaminChinaisthegao1kao3,or HighTest.Gao1fromset4.NoticeKao3 (exam,)includesthetoppartof()meaning old(lao3)asitwastheeldersdutywastogive examstotheyoungstudents.Kao3isroast.

bao1zi

Buns (noun suffix)

Steamed buns

Bao1comesfrombao1()forwrapandsi4( )asafetus.Averyoldwordforsteamedbun 64

Hanzi

Pinyin
su4shao1e2

Char-bychar
Veggie roasted duck

English
Vegetarian goose

Notes
withfilling. Shao1isacookingmethodlikekao3();e2for gooseisfromset10.Su4canmeanplain,white orvegetarian,andismadefromatop componentwhichrepresentsmulberry branches(wherewildsilkcocoonscanbe gathered)andabottomcomponent(), the twistedsilkradical(seeninpurpleinset4). Inthiscase,andwithotherfoods,su4() indicatesvegetarian.Alayered,cookedtofu preparation.

hun2tun

Traditional

Wantonsoup

Bothcharactershaveafoodradical(), whichisacompressedformof(),awordfor food(shi4).Otherwisethesecharacters togethermeanporkdumplingsinsoup,but haveevolvedbeyondrecognitionfromtheir startingpoints.

shu1cai4 shui3jaio3

Vegetable water-(boiled)dumplings

Vegetarian dumpling

Shu1cai4meansvegetables,orgreen vegetables.Bothcharactershaveagrass radical()ontopfromthewordcao4for grass().Cai4isseenmanytimesinset2. Shui3jaio3fordumplingsisfromset10.

tang2cu4 li3ji1

Sugar vinegar here Howmany?

Sweetsour pieces

Sugarset10;vinegarset15.Togetheris whatwecallsweetandsour.TheuseofLi3 (li3mian4or meansinside)andji1 (meaningseveralorhowmany)issomewhat obscureinthiscontext.

hong2shao1 rou4

Red braised meat

Braisedpork

Red(set4)andmeat(set10)arebasic characters;Shao1withitsleftsidefireradicalis anothercookingverb.

Yang2rou4 chuan4

Lamb meat skewers

Lambkabob

Lambandmeatarefromset10;chuan4isa pictureofstrungtogether.Chuan4meals onastickofvariouskindsareapopular streetfoodinChina.Chuan4isdelightfully visual!

65

66

13.

Set 13 Body Words

Thissetincludesmanybasicwordsforbodyparts.Weincludemobilephoneherebecausea)it isliterallyhandmachine,andb)itispracticallypartofthebodythesedays. Someadditionalnotes:

Manycharacterscontainthecomponent(),whichasacharactermeansmoon butasacomponentreferstofleshorpartofthebody(inpartduetoits resemblancetorou4()(meat).

Hand,orshou3()andasaradicalontheleftsideofcharacters()isahigh frequencycharacter/symbol.Example:ba3wo4,orgrasp:

Tou2orhead()isusedtwicehere,andinothercharacters(buy,sell,read)and words(mountaintop,turnaround,bone).

Hanzi

Pinyin
lian3

Char-bychar
Face

English
face

Notes
Leftsidefleshradical,rightsideisqian1() whichscholarssayisphoneticbutwhichalso evolvedfromsomethingthatlookedabitlikea face.ThisQian1meanstogether.

yan3jing

eyes

eyes

Notebothcharactersusethemu4oreyes() ontheleft.Yan3hasgen3()ontherightside, whichisalsopartof(),meanswithandis pronouncedgen1.Jinghasqing1()onthe rightside,whichreferstoanaturalgreencolor, butisusedforitssound.Itremindsmeofthe morefrequentqing3,orplease:.

zui3

mouth

mouth

Wehavemouthorkou3(),thisorci3()and hornorjiao3().Seemsalotoffussforwhat 67

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
mighthavebeenkou3(Perhapscombine and )?

bi2zi

Nose(nounsuffix) nose

Wehaveself(),pointingatthenosebetween theeyes,overbi4()whichmeanstopresent, giveandisforsound.Thezinounmarkerisused often,ifinconsistently,forsomebodyparts.

tou2fa

Headhair(or emit)

hair

Fa1heremeanshairbutalsomeansemit,or sendout.Fa1zi4()issometimesusedin emailwhereweseefrominEnglish.Tou2()is describedasastickfigure(akada4,or )with twodotsforeyes(butwhyononeside?)Fa1can bevisualizedasanarcher,kneelingandaimingto theright.Fa1soriginsareconfusedbyamelding ofdifferenttraditionalcharacters(asisoftenthe case)intoonesimplifiedcharacter.

er3dou

ear

ears

Er3isapictureofanear;doushowsatree() underbrancheshangingdownandother scholarssayitistwigsandbranchestogether. Duo3isotherwiseusedforcloudsandflowers etc.

shou3

Hand

hands

Pictographofahandasindicatedinthe introductiontothissection.Historicallyhadfive fingersandlookedmorelikeahand.

jiao3

Foot(fromflesh fleeauthority)

foot

Combinationofflesh(),goorqu4()anda radicalmeaningseal(),thelaterisapicture ofapersonkneelingasymbolofauthority.So, theFLESHyouGOontofleeAUTHORITYisyour foot!

68

Hanzi

Pinyin
du4zi

Char-bychar
Stomach(noun suffix)

English
stomach

Notes
Madefromflesh()andearth(tu2)()(partly forsound?),thinkmoundofearthwhichwould representwhereyourbellyis. Bei3orNorth()isontop,showingtwopeople backtoback.Thefleshonthebottomsignals bodypart.(Beijing:isNorthCapital).

bei4

back

back

tou2

Head

head

Astickfigurewithtwoeyesonthetopleft.Or hairflowingbehind?

ge1bei

Arm

arm

Ge1()combinesfleshwithge4meaningeach ().Beicharactercombinesfleshwithbi4 (monarch)forsound().Thisbi4has components (shi1), (kou3)and (xin1).

pi4gu

Buttocks

butt

Pi4includesshi1forbody()andbi3()forits sound(itmeanscompare)butisaschematicof apersonsittingasonabench.Byitself,Pi4means bothflatulenceandnonsense.Gu3()means thighorsection,andiscomposedoffleshand shu1()whichmeansbeat.Soalltogether thigh,buttocksarefleshthatisbeaten.

shou3zhi3

Handfinger

finger

Shou3ishand;zhi3hasthehandradical()and includeszhi3forsound()whichhasaspoon (bi3,)overthesun(ri4,).Letthehookonthe toprightremindyouofacrookedfinger.

jiao3zhi3

Foottoe

toe

Althoughzhi3heresoundslikethezhi3infinger, theyaredifferentcharacters.Thiszhi3hasno handradical,butismadefromzu2()whichalso meansfoot,andting4orstop().Mnemonic: toeshelpyoutostopwithyourfeet.(Jiao3is foot.) 69

Hanzi

Pinyin
shen1ti3

Char-bychar
Bodybody

English
Bodyor health

Notes
Scholarssaytheleftcharacterisapregnant woman;canmeanlifeorincarnationtoo.Ti3is ren2()orpersonandben3()meansbasisor origin(orvolumeofabook).Thephrasethe originofapersonshealthstartsfrompregnancy getsallthesethoughtsandmeaningstogether.

yan3jing4

Glasses

glasses

Yan3isthesamecharacterasusedineyes(). Jing4()meansmirrororglass,andhasaleft handradicalofJin1(metal)andarighthandside ofjing4orfinish().Jing4,finish,iscomposedof yin1orsound()overer2(child),as()buta variationofperson().Divingdownthrough yin1orsoundtostand()andre4forsun()is probablyoverkillyin1aspartofmusic (yin1yue4),pronunciation(fa1yin1)andnews (yin1xin4)isworthlearninginitsownright.But whenyouseenotfollowedbyacharacterwith aneyeleftsideradical,lookformetaland musicandyouwillknowyouarelookingat glasses.

shou3ji1

Handmachine

Mobile phone

Thisishandmachinejustaswesawairplane wasflyingmachineinset1.Ji1asbeforeis composedoftreeorwoodontheleftandji3 forhowmany(orsmalltable)ontheright.Cell Phone,Handmachinesamething.

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14.

Set 14 Home + Family

Thewordsinthissetrelatetofamilyandhome.Thisgivesasmallflavorofthecomplexityand varietyofwordsusedtodescriberelativesinChina.Someusefultidbitsrelatedtofamily/home wordsarepresentedbelow,beforethesetof18wordsarepresentedindetail.

Jia1(

)forhomeorfamilystartstheambiguity.Jia1canrefertothe

structureitselfyourhouse,asinisyourfatherathome?.Jia1canreferto yourfamilyunit,howeveryoumightdefineit(ni3you3ji1kou3ren2zai4jia1? Youhavehowmanypeopleinyourfamily?Livinginyourhouse?)Sometimesthe exactmeaningisnotclear,butcontextusuallysuffices. Notedifferent"room"wordsandwheretheyareused.Theyinclude,

, and

.Likestream,creek,river,canal,etc.,theyallconnotedifferentideasand
expectationsaboutthespacetheyareusedfor.Pinyin:Jian1,fang2,ting1andshi4.

Hanzi

Pinyin
jia1

Char-bychar
Homeor family

English Notes
home Ahomeisrepresentedbyaroof()overapig( )asignofprosperityforanyhousehold!

ba4ba

Father

father

Fu4canmeanfatheras();addtheba1for sound()andyouhaveba1baorfather.Early versionsoffatherhadahandholdingastick. Thinkoffu4ascrossedswordsfordefendingthe family.Andtheba1charactercouldbeasmiling Barpatronjiu4babeingonewordforbar.

ma1ma

mother

mother

Ma1ismadefromnv3()forwomanandgetsits soundfromthecharactermaforhorse().

fu4mu3

parents

parents

Onecharacterforfather,theotherformother. Themu3characterformotherissimilartomv3( )withanadditionalhorizontalstrokeandan

72

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English Notes
upperandlowerdot.

di4di

Younger brother

Younger brother

Tothewesternear,thediminutivesoundworksfor ayoungersibling,butotherwise,nogoodtheories existfortheshapeofthischaracter.Noteitisthe rightsideofthewordforladderwesawinset1 forelevatorelectricladderordianti().

ge1ge

Older brother

Older brother

Asnotedforthewordcaninset8,thislookslike astackedpairoftheke3character().

jie3jie

Oldersister

Older sister

Thenv3()leftsidehelpsdesignateitafemale; therightsideqie3()meaningmoreoverisnt muchhelp,butthestackofboxes,likethestacked symbolsinolderbrother,alsocansuggest older.

mei4mei

Younger sister

Younger sister

Herethenv3againidentifiesthegenderasfemale; andthemei3soundslikebeautiful(butisa differentcharacter)whichmightotherwise suggestyoungersistersaremorebeautiful.This righthandsidecharacter()contributessound wei4butmeanshavenotordidnot(e.g.get married<yet>).

wai4po2

Outsideold lady

Maternal grandma

Wai4()foroutsideispartofwordslikeforeigner andoutside(wai4guo2ren2andwai4mian).Po2is likethecolloquiallao3poformyoldladyor spouse.Alsocanbewai4zu3mu3().

wai4gong 1

Outsidepapa Maternal grandpa

Gonghereisthesamecharacterasinpublic(see businset1)butisusedasinthewordLao3gong forhusband.

73

Hanzi

Pinyin
nai3nai

Char-bychar
Milkmilk

English Notes
Paternal grandma Thisnai3isformilkorbreasts,asseenin niu2nai3formilk,inset11. Theye2charactershowsfatherontop()anda variationonjie2(),apersonkneeling,onthe bottom.Thebottomsymbolisoneof authority,(rememberfoot?)soafathersfather authoritymustbethegreatest.

ye2ye

Grandpa

Paternal grandpa

chu2fang 2

Cooking room

Kitchen

Chu2showsaroom()forpreparingdou3or beans()tospecificationssymbolizedbycun4 forinch().NotebeansorDou4isthefirst characterinDou4fuorTofu().

xi3shou3 jian1

Washhands room

Bathroom

Xi3forwashhasathreedotwaterradicalnextto xian1orfirstwhichisthefirstcharacterof misterorxian1sheng().Sowateronthe misteriswash.Shou3ishandfromseveral earlierexamples(mobilephone,handinset13). Jian1()isagreatwordtorememberforroom andyoucanseeawindow()throughthedoor ().(Forgivemeforsuddenlycallingour character/radicalforsunordayawindow,but forthisoneitfits.)

ke4ting1

Guestroom

Living room

Ke4isguestandreferstoeach(orge4,)visitor undertheroof()ofyourhome.Ting1refersto ahallorroomrememberthisfortheshelter part()andthesoundting1from()(which isactuallyding1,fordiced,asingong1bao3 ji1ding1inset12.)

74

Hanzi

Pinyin
wo4shi4

Char-bychar
Liedown room

English Notes
Bedroom Wo4meansliedown;shi4meansroom,and showsaroof()overtheplacewhereanarrow meetsitstarget(flyingup)zhi4or().ThisShi4 orroomisusedinformaladdresses.

shu1 fang2

Bookroom

study

Bookisshu1()aswecanalsoseeintheword forlibraryinset16.Ithaschangedfromearlier timestoomuchtoseeitsorigin(handwritingina book).Fang2canrefertoahouseoraroomandis averyusefulwordandcharacterfoundin fang2jian1(room)andfang2zi(forstructure/ houselikebuilding,butnotatallofficebuilding). Fang2comesfromhu4fordoor()combined withfang1forsquare().

sun1zi

Grandson.

grandson

Theleftsideofsun1ischild,asisthesecond character(zi).Therightsideofsun1isxiaoor little.Hencelittlesonofson.

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76

15.

Set 15 Basic Foods 3

Thewordsinthissetareadditionalcommonfooditems.Somenoteshereasreminders:

Thegrassradicaloftenindicatessomeplantform.Sowatchfor(). Qing1()forgreen(ofgrowingthings)isusedinQing1nian(growingyears,or youth:). Inthethird(risingfalling)tone,qing3ispleaseoraninvitation notethewordradicalontheside:.

Water,tea,noodlesandriceshouldbemasteredearly!

Hanzi

Pinyin
mo2gu1

Char-bychar
Mushroom mushroom

English
mushroom

Notes
Mo2describessomesortofplant()that growsonorinrocks()andtrees()under ashelter()(oracrosswideareas).Nottoo difficultforanineteenstrokebeast!Gu1also isofplants()andcontainsgu1,for soundawordthatmeansfatherssister( )asyoucanseefromthe ornv3 (woman)andgu3(, meaningancient).

hu2luo2bo

recklessradish

carrot

Hu2isacommonsurname,andalsomeans reckless.Itcombinesancient(gu3or ) withmoonorflesh().Thenexttwo charactersmeanradishseebelow.

yan2cong1

Oceanonion

onion

Yan2()isthethreedotwaterradicalnext tosheep(),yang2.Cong1,whichcomes fromscallionorgreenonion,hasaplant radicalontop,aheartradicalonthe

77

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
bottom(),andcong1()forurgent, rushed)inthemiddle.Awetsheephasa strongsmell,likeayelloworwhiteonion somethingeventhestrongheartedmight hurryawayfrom.

qing1cai4

Green vegetables

greens

Qing1()isthewordforthenaturalcolorof greengrassandfrogs,forexample.Thetop componentissimilartosheng1(life,orbirth as),thebottomfleshormoonsothe colorofgrowingthingssomehowcameoutof this.Cai4forvegetablesisusedmanytimes inset2.ComparetoCeleryqin2cai4.

zi3shu3

Purpluesweet potato

Purpleyam Purple,theonlycolorbesidesredwithasilk radical,wascoveredinset4.Shu3forsweet potatowasseenashong2shu3orred (normal)sweetpotatoinset2. Lou2iscomprisedofthegrassradical, signalingaplant(),andanet(onits side)intheevening().()isabirdnet ofsorts,andwaschosenforitssound.

luo2bo

Radishor turnip

radish

jiang4you2

Sauceoil

Soysauce

Jiang4assaucewasexplainedinset12 (Jiang4contains()onthebottom,or() jiu3withoutthewaterradical);the mnemonicforoilisshownforthewordoil below.

mian4bao1 Noodlewrap

bread

Mian4()isusedfornoodle;thinkofitasa drawingoflasagnabeingcutbyaspecial knife.Bao1iswrapasnotedinboa1zi(set 12)andwasalsoseenasacharacter componentinsets11(wrap)and6(run).

78

Hanzi

Pinyin
you2

Char-bychar
Oil

English
oil

Notes
Iseethisasfluidextractedfromafield becauseofthethreedotwaterradical,and thefieldcomponent()withapipesticking upoutofit.Thescholarlyexplanationisthat thewaterradicalsignalsafluid,andthat() isacharacterthatsoundslikeyou2.

cu4

Vinegar

vinegar

Againthecomponent(),thistimeonthe left.Followedbyxi1()asinformertimes, past.[Iseedays()buriedinthepast undertwoearths().]Cu4couldbe wine(orjiu4:)fromaformertimenow turnedtovinegar!

mian4

Noodle

Noodles

Thetraditionalcharacterhadaformof wheatinit,butwasdroppedfor simplification,leavingthemianthesound fromface.SeeMian4Bao3above.

xiao3mai4

Littlewheat

Wheat

Xiao3meanssmallasseeningrandsoninset 14andinsizeandchildinset9.Derivedfrom threesmalldotsorthesubdivisionof somethingalreadysmall().Mai4herehas acommoncomponentonthetop,signifying grain,andacommoncomponentonthe bottom,usuallyassociatedwithwalking slow.Hencetheslowgrowinggrainis wheat.

zhou1

Porridge

Porridge

Scholarssaythisisrice()mi3,surrounded byGong1()forboworbend.Iseerice( )insideofaWEAK()liquidorbroth.The extrapairofstrokesatthebottomofboth sidesreflectsthepaucityofsolidcontentin theporridge.PronouncedlikeJoebuta

79

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
cupofthisJoewouldNOTbecoffee.

Suan4

garlic

garlic

Thegrassorplantradicaloveranoldword thatsoundedlikesuan4(),nowshi4for showorindicatedoubled.Cangarlichelp youpredictthefuture? Gan1fordryasindriedpressedtofu, shreddedinGan1se1()[set12].Lao forcheese.Rarecharacter.NaiLao() alsocheese.

gan1lao4

Drycheese

cheese

zhi1

Juice

juice

Threedotwaterradicalfollowedbyten(). Juicehastentimesthenutritionofwater!

shu3

Water

water

Threelinesshowingtheflowofwater? Drawingthelongmiddleoftheriverstroke first,followedbytheleftonebouncingoffthe center,andtherightpairgoingdifferent directions,youcanthinkofastreamwitha smallshallowspotinthemiddle.

cha2

Tea

tea

Averyimportantcharacterbesttoseethis asapersoninateahouse(withplantradical ontop).

80

81

16.

Set 16 Queries 2

Thissetincludesmoreusefulwordsforaskingandansweringquestions.

Hanzi

Pinyin
tiao4

Char-bychar
jump

English
jump

Notes
Tiao4hasacompressedfootleftsideand omenorbacktobackstickfiguresonthe right.Danceistiao4wu3,soperhapsthe figuresarejumpingaround.Footzu2is( ). Thebambooradicaloveracharacterthatis itselfearth()overinch().Wesaw inchasacomponentofshirtinset3;and earthaspartofpotatoinset2.Wealsosaw thebambooradicalover()inkuai3zior chopsticksinset5andxiao3orlaughin set6.Sinceearthoverinchgivesussi4or temple(),wecanthinkofpatientmonks waitingandprayingalldayatthetemple (madeofbamboo).

deng3

Wait

wait

hui4

Meet

meet

Clouds()gatheringunderagentlysloping roof,allowingalargegathering.

ke3neng2

Canbeable

maybe

Ke3hereisthesameasinke3yi3()be able.Neng2hasaleftsideoftriangle(almost) overthemoon,andrightsideisapairof ancientspoons().Canyouthrowthetwo spoonsintothetriangleabovethemoon? Maybe

zher4

Thishere

here

Zhe4followedbythersound.Thiszhe4is composedofthegoradicalchuo4()and wen2forlanguageorculture().Avery

82

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar
Thatthere

English

Notes
basicwordbestsimplymemorized. Mnemonic:thisHEREistheGOTOword.

nar4

there

ThisandThat( and )wereseeninset9. Addingthersoundtotheendchangesthe wordsomewhatsignifyinglocation.

yuan3

Far

far

Theradicalgolookslikealongroad(), andthecomponentyuan2()contribute soundbutmeansprimarysothe primarythingaboutthatlongroadistheFAR distanceitgoes.

jin4

Near

near

ThecomponentJin1()meansabouthalfa kilogram,andisaunitofmeasureformany bulkgoods.Thisandthego(chuo4)radical (orroad)signalashorttrip,ornear.Dont confusewithJin1(enter,)inset6.

you4

Right

right

Considertheverticalandhorizontalstrokesas astickfigurestridingforward.Kou3() suggestsheisspeakingrighteously,striding forwardknowingheiscorrectorright.

zuo3

Left

left

Ourstickfigureisstridingforward,andtheI beamremindsusofwork()andthathe iswiththeworkerspartyaparty traditionallyontheleft.

zhi2

Straight

straight

Thinkofthisasanaimingsight,allowingyou toaimyourhighspeedcameraatyour selectedtarget,straightahead.

peng2 you3

Friendfriend

friend

Peng2showstwofleshcomponents together,symbolizingfriendsspendingtime witheachother.You3isderivedfromtwo handsjoinedinfriendship,butthisisno

83

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
longervisible.Alternately,thinkofa)that stridingstickfigure(inleftandright),andb) duplicatingitagain,becauseyou4()is thecharacterforagain.

xiao1 peng2you 3

Littlefriend

youngster

Wehavelittleorxiao1inset9,14and15. Peng2you3isfriendfromthisset.Xiao pengyouisawaypeoplefrequentlyaddress childrentheydonotknowinpublic.

di4tu2

Earthpicture

map

Di4forearthiscomposedoftu3()and ye3oralso().Thischaracterisusedfor addressdi4zhi3().Tu2forpicture alsomeansdiagram,maporplan,sothe charactershowsasurround()withwinter( )insideaplanforahousetokeepwinter OUT.

tu2shu1 guan3

Picturebook building

library

Wehaveseentu2forpicture(inmap)and shu1forbook(instudyorbookroom); nowwehavebuildingorguan3(). Guan3containsthefoodradical()asoften buildingshaveplacestoeat,andguan1for official().Guanlookslikeabuildinga coupleofsectionsunderaroof.Usedin variouswordshotel(lv3guan3),teahouse (cha2guan3),guesthouse(bing1guan3), restaurant(cai4guan3),andmanymore.So picturebookbuilding=library.

shu1dian4 Bookstore

bookstore

Bookhasbeeninseveralwords(seelibrary above).Dian4forashopisseenin shang1dian4below.

shang1 dian4

Businessshop

store

Shang1()isawordforbusinessor merchant;alsodiscuss.Shang1ye4()isa businessperson,commerceortrade.Shang1 isoftenusedinbusinessnamesandplaces

84

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar

English

Notes
supportingcommerce(e.g.ChinaMerchants Bank).Dian4()canbeseenasabuilding( )withsomegoodsinside(),

xi3

Wash

wash

Asdescribedinwashhandsroomor bathroom(xi3shou3jian1),thischaracter showswatershoweringdownonaMister( ).

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17.

Some Additional Characters

Simple sentences using the nouns above as subjects and objects, with verbs and adjectives, and be easily constructed from the words we have. However, this lessons do not contain the simple and most basic words often learning in introductory lessons the words for I and You; the simple greeting for hello; and verb for is or to be which is shi1 (); or the most frequent character used in the Chinese language the particle de () used, for example to show possession. These important characters are presented below to allow you to express many more ideas and to construct many simple sentences using the word in Wordz Lianxi I that would not otherwise be possible.

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar
I or Me

English

Notes

Wo3

Hand+daggerorspearforfeeding oneself;anexpressionofidentity. Rightsideisoldthoutypeof formalism. Closeto()forwalkinset6,Shi combinesSun()ontopwitha formofcorrect(zheng4)onthe bottom().Theguidinglightofthe suntellsuswhatiscorrect,and providesthebasisforallexistence. Hencesun+correcttellus,and enable,whatIS.

Ni3

You (informal) Is

You

Shi4

Is

De

Possessive Particle

Indicates possession

MostfrequentwordinChinesetexts. isthisyourpenofblue?notisthis yourbluepen?:requiredinmany places.

Ming2zi

Name Characters Name Card

Name

Ming2pia n4

Businesscard

87

Hanzi

Pinyin

Char-bychar
Question Particle

English

Notes

Ma

Indicatesquestion

Chu1zu1 che1

Go Out-RentCar

Taxi

Chu1andche1(, )arecoveredin sets6and1.Zu1(),thecharacter forrentcombinesgrain()he2 withanabstractwordthathasa senseoffornow()qie3asin youcanborrowmygrainfornow (asinaloantoatrader).canbe seeninhelp()andoldersister( )sets8and14).

Wo3men I plural

We

Ye3

Also

Also

Ta1

You (male)

He,him

Ta1

You (female) They

She,her

Ta1men

They,them

Ni3men

You-plural

You(plural)

Ye3xu3

Also allow

Perhaps

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