A
throne adorned with Chinese writing.
Radical
Radicals
Chinese radicals are the next level of Chinese writing.
They are made up of a number of strokes and are classified
by the number of strokes it takes to write them. This is
how they are found in a Chinese dictionary. They can add
meaning or sound to a word. By exploring the meaning of
a word through its radicals, and understanding how the work
to make a word, you can learn Chinese words faster and retain
their meaning longer.
Chinese
does not use an alphabet, or series of symbols representing
sounds. Rather, Chinese started out as a series of drawings
of things or concepts that evolved into ideograms that came
to represent an item or concept. Strokes make up radicals.
Radicals have their own sounds. They also have meanings,
although they can mean more than one thing. Thus, radicals
can be combined to form more advanced concepts. Some radicals
look like their meanings.
Basic
radicals:
Mountain:
As
you can see, the moutain radical started as a picture of
mountains on the left. It evolved into the mountain radical
that you see on the right.
Sun:
Water:
As
you can see, some radicals evolved from actual pictures
of what an object looks like. Start out by getting acquainted
with these radicals and see if you can recognize them when
you are out and about.
Demystify
this ancient art. Come to my discussion forum and learn
the secrets of Chinese language. Keep in touch with Chinese
news and events. Learn about Chinese culture and cooking.
Click here.
