Chinese Writing System demystified

Miss Chiang

Topics Covered

Basic Facts Creation of characters Concept of Radicals Stroke Orders

Basic Facts

There are more than 50,000 characters in existence.Literate = know 2,000 – 3,000 characters.

Formation 六書 Basic unit of Chinese writing language is

“Character,” which is a meaningful syllable.

6 ways of forming Chinese characters.「造字法」 - Four creates new characters;「用字法」 - Two creates new

uses/meanings of existing characters.

6 Ways of Forming Characters

1 象形 象形 Xiàng xíng Pictographs

2 指事 指事 Zhǐ shì Indicatives

3 會意 会意 Huì yì Ideatives

4 形聲 形声 Xíng shēng Harmonics

5 轉注 转注 Zhuăn zhù Derived/Transmissive

6 假借 假借 jiă jiè Borrowed characters

Concept of Radicals 部首 Characters are grouped together by

“radicals （部首）”Radicals = roots = common components.214 “Kangxi Radicals”, standardized in 1714.189 “simplified radicals”.

Web resource: 214 KangXi Radicals.

Stroke Order 筆順 / 笔顺 The stroke order of a character gives the

order and direction in which the brush strokes, or simply "strokes", are written.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Yong%27s_skeleton.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:%E6%B0%B8-red.png

Tips on learning characters

Review and practice frequently. Practice writing a few times every sitting,

both in air and on paper. Make flash cards & review sheets. Recognize by meaningful components. Big picture first, then fill in details. And the key is: Write, Write, & Write.