Lecture 4 Chinese Characters

1、SUST DanielChinese Characters SUST DanielIntroductionl“block characters (方塊字)” one of the oldest characters in the worldappeared more 6,000 years ago carved on the oracle bones 3,000 years agoldifferent pronunciations of some wordslsame written system and grammarSUST DanielHow Many Chinese Character

2、s?PeriodNumber of CharactersShang Dyn. (16 -11 century BC)4,500Xu Shens Dictionary (121 AD) 9,353Dictionary in Nan Dyn. (386-556 AD) 16,917Dictionary in Ming Dyn. (1368-1644) 33,179Kangxi Dictionary (1716) 47,035Modern Chinese Dictionary 56,000SUST DanielXu Shen & His DictionarylXu Shen (許慎)East

3、ern Han Dynasty58-147The Dictionary說文解字“Six Principles (六書)”SUST DanielSix Principles of Creating and Using Chinese Characters (六書六書)pictogram (象形) ideogram (指事) compound ideogram (會(huì)意) phonogram (形聲) mutually defining (轉(zhuǎn)注) phonetic loan (假借) lthe first 4 principles: creating a characterlthe last 2 p

4、rinciples: using an existing characterSUST DanielIntroductionlSimplified characters: 2,238 Chinese characters lTraditional characters: Hong Kong, Macau and TaiwanSUST Daniel Pictograms (象形字象形字)lThe characters derived from pictures.lTheir derivation is not always obvious after being standardized, sim

5、plified, and stylized to make them easier to write.SUST DanielPictograms (象形字象形字)SUST Daniel Pictograms (象形字象形字)SUST DanielPictograms (象形字象形字)SUST Daniel豬豬猴猴羊羊兔兔蛇蛇牛牛馬馬龍龍雞雞虎虎狗狗鼠鼠Pictograms (象形字象形字)SUST DanielPictograms (象形字象形字)SUST DanielIdeograms (指事字指事字)lsimple indicatives or simple ideographsmodif

6、y existing pictographs iconicallydirect iconic illustrationslE.g.一，二，三，本，末，刃，凸，凹，甘SUST DanielknifebladeIdeograms (指事字指事字)SUST DanielIdeograms (指事字指事字)SUST DanielCompound Ideogram (會(huì)意字會(huì)意字)llogical aggregates or associative compoundssymbolically combine pictograms or ideograms to create a third charac

7、terSUST DanielCompound Ideogram (會(huì)意字會(huì)意字)sharp tipdustburn, put on firefeel uneasySUST DanielCompound Ideogram (會(huì)意字會(huì)意字)SUST DanielCompound Ideogram (會(huì)意字會(huì)意字)SUST DanielCompound Ideogram (會(huì)意字會(huì)意字)lE.g.掰，炙，跌，武，解，鳴，吠，孬，歪，巖，仙，看，采，盥，酒，戍，從，林，森，淼，眾，伐，盜，信，男，婦，灶，偷SUST DanielPhonograms (形聲字形聲字)lsemantic-phonetic

8、 compounds (the most numerous category)lcomposed of two parts: one of a limited set of pictographs, suggesting the general meaning of the characteran existing character pronounced approximately as the new target wordlE.g.湖，騎，鋼，柱，城，房，想，架，管，芳SUST DanielMutually Defining (轉(zhuǎn)注轉(zhuǎn)注)lmutually explanatory cha

9、racters in ChineselE.g.考/老 顛/頂竅/空 耄/耋踐/踏SUST DanielPhonetic Loan (假借假借)lborrowingsan existing character is used to represent an unrelated word with similar pronunciationl自 (z) original meaning：noseoneselfl萬 (wan）original meaning：scorpionten thousandSUST DanielPhonetic Loan (假借假借)SUST DanielDo you kn

10、ow this character?一點(diǎn)飛上天，黃河兩邊彎；八字大張口，言字往里走，左一扭，右一扭；西一長，東一長，中間加個(gè)馬大王；心字底，月字旁，留個(gè)勾搭掛麻糖；推了車車走咸 陽。SUST DanielA Riddle for the CharacterlWith water you feed fish lWith soil you grow vegetable lWith horse you ride 1000 miles a day lWith person you get a partner加水可養(yǎng)魚蝦，加土可種菜瓜，加馬飛奔原野，加人不是咱兩。l有耳能聽到，有口能請(qǐng)教， 有手能自喚，有心便發(fā)愁。SUST DanielRiddlesl一字生得奇，頭長兩只角，肚中六張嘴，下面八字足。l一點(diǎn)一橫長，一撇向南揚(yáng)，走來一個(gè)人，只有一寸長，手里提塊肉，一點(diǎn)也不香。l一只盤子并不大，太陽月亮放得下。l冰上兩點(diǎn)嫌它多，石頭壓水水上坡。l斷一半，接一半；接起來，還是斷。SUST DanielRiddlesl不上不下l公而無私l又到村里l找到一半l多出一半l請(qǐng)勿入口l八九不離十l十兩多一點(diǎn)l記一半，忘一半l打破框框，疏通才路l人人離座，座上無人SUST DanielRiddlesl