4.5: Presentation of characters

a) Each character is introduced in large format, with number of strokes, pronunciation and a general meaning indicated below it. Since most words are compound in Mandarin, characters generally represent parts of compounds rather than words as such. Sometimes combinational or historical information can suggest a general meaning for a particular character/syllable: 明天 ‘bright + day’ for míngtiān ‘tomorrow’. But in cases where a particular character/syllable has no independent form, it may not be possible to give a reliable meaning: 昨天 ‘? + day’ for zuótiān ‘yesterday’ (cf. ‘yester+day’ in English). In such cases, if a general meaning can be inferred from other combinations, it is given in parentheses.

b) For characters with two forms, a simplified and a traditional, both forms are given, with the traditional form above and the simplified form below.

c) Because of the difficulty of indicating the order of strokes without providing handdrawn characters, students are asked to seek information on stroke-order from teachers or from internet links.

Some indication of the constituency of characters, as well as the number of strokes needed to draw them, is provided by the two numbers underneath each large format character. The first number is the number of strokes of the radical assigned to the character. The second number gives the strokes that remain in addition to the radical. The sum of the two numbers is the total number of strokes. Where the second number is 0 (eg 长 4+0 / 長 8+0), the character is itself a radical. In some cases, characters that have only one form have been assigned a different radical in the simplified set from that of the traditional; 弟 dì ‘younger brother’, for example, is assigned the radical 弓 in the traditional set (ie 3+4), but 八 (the first two strokes) in the simplified (ie 2+5). In such cases, both numbers are given, with the traditional radical assignment first.

d) Separate reading materials are provided for both traditional and simplified characters. The former would normally be written vertically, but for reasons of practicality, they too are presented in horizontal format.

e) Occasionally, new characters which have not been formally introduced in the character lessons are included in texts on the assumption that they can be identified from the context. Such material is underlined.

f) Writing exercises may be done by hand, or on a word-processor. Teachers may differ on policy about whether to write simplified, traditional or both. One position is to allow learners to choose one or the other, but to require consistency – no switching within a text just to avoid complicated characters! Regardless of writing choice, learners should learn to read both types.

g) Because written language serves different functions from spoken, it is not surprising to find some material specialized for written functions. In Chinese, this includes particular words, grammatical patterns, and most frequently, the use of truncated compounds (eg 已 alone, rather than the full compound, 已經 yǐjing ‘already’). Such forms will be noted as encountered.

Approach

In studying the characters, the following approach is recommended:

Scan the large format characters and the analysis and notes that follow them to prime yourself for the type of material that will follow;

then remind yourself of the words and phrases that contain the new characters by trying to read the section entitled phrases, checking your pronunciation against the pinyin that is shown below;

making use of context, do the readings until fluent;

finally, do the exercises, and practice writing the characters until familiar.