{"id":12677,"date":"2020-03-13T09:23:08","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T09:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blog.thatsmandarin.com\/?p=12677"},"modified":"2021-05-05T10:34:39","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T10:34:39","slug":"how-to-better-understand-chinese-characters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/api.thatsmandarin.com\/blog\/how-to-better-understand-chinese-characters\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Understand Chinese Characters?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to better understand Chinese Characters? Many foreigners are curious about learning\u00a0Chinese characters<\/a>. Partly because they are amazed by the charm of Chinese calligraphy. Let\u2019s talk about learning Chinese characters from a more practical point of view. It\u2019s quite clear that knowing Chinese characters is a prerequisite for passing the\u00a0HSK (level 3 to level 6)<\/a>. Not to mention understanding Chinese magazines and newspapers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some Chinese learners are awe-struck by how complicated they are, especially when a character contains more than 15 strokes. More importantly, sometimes it\u2019s not easy to understand the logic behind a certain character. In terms of how to better understand Chinese characters, we are here to give you some advice. They concern three main aspects of a Chinese character.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

Chinese Characters: Shape<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

In ancient China, instead of writing characters, Chinese people \u201cdrew characters\u201d. Even now some Chinese learners still prefer to use this phrase. And it suggests that there is a connection between ancient Chinese characters and pictogram.<\/span><\/p>\n

The modern Chinese characters<\/a>\u00a0are the result of an eight-thousand-year evolution. It starts from the moment when people started to depict objects in a pictorial way. Therefore, associating Chinese characters with pictures or scenery which they resemble could stimulate your interest in learning Chinese characters.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, there are quite a few characters that would remind you of something similar in terms of appearance or shape. For example, the character \u201c<\/span>\u5c71<\/span>(sh\u0101n): mountain\u201d looks pretty similar to undulating hills. The verb \u201c<\/span>\u98de<\/span>(f\u0113i): to fly\u201d can serve as another decent example. The two little stokes on the right combined with the overall shape of this character resemble a bird flapping its wings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

Chinese Characters: Sound\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Many Chinese characters consist of two parts. It\u2019s the radical (which will be explained afterward) and a separate character indicating the pronunciation.<\/span><\/p>\n

In these cases, the sound-indicating character can often be treated as the \u201croot\u201d of the character. For example, \u201c<\/span>\u9a6c<\/span>(m<\/span>\u01ce<\/span>): horse\u201d could be considered to be the \u201croot\u201d of several relative characters. For example: \u201c<\/span>\u5988<\/span>(m\u0101): mother\u201d, \u201c<\/span>\u7801<\/span>(m<\/span>\u01ce<\/span>): code\u201d and \u201c<\/span>\u9a82<\/span>(m\u00e0): to scold\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

As you might have noticed, \u201c<\/span>\u9a6c<\/span>(m<\/span>\u01ce<\/span>)\u201d only determines the pronunciation of these characters. It\u2019s got nothing to do with their meaning. This is something typical that you will come across when learning Chinese characters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another example can be \u201c<\/span>\u6d0b<\/span>(y\u00e1ng): ocean\u201d, which is made of the radical (the left part) \u201cwater\u201d. The independent character \u201c<\/span>\u7f8a<\/span>(y\u00e1ng): sheep\u201d indicates its pronunciation. Hence, even if sometimes you don\u2019t know the meaning of a Chinese character, you might still be able to read it correctly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

Chinese Characters: Meaning<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Radicals play an extremely important role in forming Chinese characters. They give a hint about the meaning of a certain character. Verbs that are more or less related to each other usually share the same radical. This would help you better understand and memorize Chinese characters to a certain extent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes the radical of a character can also be represented by a separate character. For instance, \u201c<\/span>\u53e3<\/span>(k<\/span>\u01d2<\/span>u): mouth\u201d is the common radical. You can find it in: \u201c<\/span>\u5403<\/span>(ch\u012b): to eat\u201d, \u201c<\/span>\u559d<\/span>(h\u0113): to drink\u201d, \u201c<\/span>\u54ac<\/span>(y<\/span>\u01ce<\/span>o): to bite\u201d and \u201c<\/span>\u56bc<\/span>(ji\u00e1o): to chew\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the radical of a character does not always occupy its left part. It could be also at the bottom. For example, the radical of \u201c<\/span>\u70ed<\/span>(r\u00e8): hot\u201d turns out to be the four dots at the bottom. They have a hidden meaning of fire.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How to better understand Chinese Characters? Many foreigners are curious about learning\u00a0Chinese characters. Partly because they are amazed by the charm of Chinese calligraphy. Let\u2019s talk about learning Chinese characters from a more practical point of view. It\u2019s quite clear that knowing Chinese characters is a prerequisite for passing the\u00a0HSK (level 3 to level 6). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":12685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[256,275],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Understand Chinese Characters? | That's Mandarin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to understand Chinese Characters? Many foreigners are curious about learning them. 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