A useful Online Resource for a rare combination of both Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, with a Source that is also fluent in English is LearnChineseEZ.com
This site has both fairly useful Mandarin Lessons and Cantonese Lessons for Free.
It also boasts of a well thought out but simple Chinese Character Tutorial, as well as lessons on Chinese Proverbs and Cantonese Slang, with a 4000 Word Chinese Character database, in both Simple and Traditional sets.
Some radicals have a different shape if they stand alone as a word, and as a radical:
As emphasized at the beginning, this site is to help those with some basic knowledge of Hakka, Cantonese and Mandarin without formal Writing and Mandarin skills, to upgrade their knowledge to be proficient in an increasingly important Chinese Official Language, that is used by almost 1 in 5 inhabitants of Earth.
This is NOT a Didactic Collection of Lectures, but more a Do-It-Yourself Manual/Resource.
It is a Collection of Data and Resources to help Accelerate and Formalize a Teaching and Learning method peculiar to your specific needs and goals.
Here is a REPEAT TUTORIAL on its actual IMPLEMENTATION.
First of ALL, THERE IS NO WAY TO BYPASS THE MEMORIZATION OF SPECIFIC BASICS – ESPECIALLY TONE, BUT IF WE SET OFF WITH THE PREMISE THAT THERE IS ALREADY SOME SPOKEN BACKGROUND IN HAKKA OR CANTONESE, THIS ASPECT HAS ALREADY BEEN ADDRESSED AND ITS MORE A PROCESS OF UTILIZATION TO GET THE PERFECT TONES – 7 -9 in Hakka, at least 7 in Cantonese and only 4 in Mandarin.
Memorizing the Chinese Characters can be accomplished by Referring to the 214 Generally accepted Radicals, deciding whether to learn SIMPLIFIED (Mainland Chinese) or TRADITIONAL (Non-Mainland Chinese – including Taiwan) Chinese characters. This can be simplified down to the ESSENTIAL 54 RADICALS – the ones statistically found to be used the most often and by various memorization techniques e.g. FLASHCARDS, MNEMONICS OR STORY-LINES – as popularized by the HEISIG METHOD.
Then, it boils down to putting things into practice, hence this tutorial.
Let us take the English word for clothing. These r just illustrations of programs mentioned in this blog and can be interchanged for any program that works best for your circumstances.
CLOTHING:
First look up the Chinese Character. I find the programs based on the Cantodict Databases or CC-CEDIT Databases the most useful personally, especially the ones accepting English, Handwritten, Voice, and even OCR. My favorite in NCIKU:
LET US CHOOSE ZHUANG (by clicking on “more” below the word after the character):
NOW CLICK ON “STROKE ORDER”:
Unfortunately the Adobe Flash portion is not captured. BUT, MORE IMPORTANTLY, CLICK ON THE “PRACTICE WRITING ON SKRITTER” LINK.
Again, apologies for the non screen-capture of the Adobe Flash components. NOW CLICK ON THE MAGNIFYING GLASS ICON ON THE EXTREME RIGHT:
THEN – LOOK UP THE INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS, OR EXPLORE WORDS THAT CONTAIN THE SAME CHARACTERS, ETC. NOTICE THE NEXT BUTTONS AT THE TOP RIGHT OF THE NEW FRAMES THAT POP UP THAT GIVES U MORE RESULTS. ONE WORD OPENS UP A MYRIAD OF NEW WORDS. FADSCINATING AT THE LEAST – ESPECIALLY AS FAR AS ETYMOLOGY IS CONCERNED.
NOTICE, ON THE MAIN PANEL/FRAME – THERE IS A “DICTIONARY LOOK-UP” BUTTON, WHICH IS PREPOPULATED WITH NCIKU, AS THIS WAS THE SITE REFERRING U TO SKRITTER. IF U CLICK ON THIS – IT TAKES U BACK TO THE NCIKU SITE. BUT, MORE IMPORTANTLY – IF U HAVE A REGISTERED NCIKU ACCOUNT – IT SAVES THE CHARACTERS INTO YOUR WORD-LIST”. There is NO CHARGE for an NCIKU Account (but a donation is encouraged) or to use SKRITTER thru NCIKU – Skritter is an Excellent resource and is otherwise about $20/month to use. A NCIKU Account allows u to also print out free FLASH CARDS and is almost a complete ANKI Alternative.
FINALLY, if u want to see the other Dialects, especially Cantonese, or even Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese, character and do a search on Yellowbridge, which opens up more explanations and links:
Click on the VARIOUS FOLDERS AT THE TOP LEFT:
WALLA, Cantonese – Jtutping and Yale, (together with Japanese and Korean).
A Computerized Artificial Intelligence based program on the frequency distribution was recently published. It weights words at percentage of usage.
This work confirms the rational behind Chinese Language Proficiency Tests – e.g. the – HSK Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (汉语水平考试) – Tests.
For a list of updated Characters tested in the latest iterations of the HSK – click here:
http://blog.nciku.com/blog/en/2011/03/09/hsk-character-list-and-stroke-order-animations/
Whereas a MORPHEME is the smallest meaningful unit in the grammar of a language, a SYLLABLE is a unit of organization for a sequence of sounds, and without necessarily a specific meaning.
Each Chinese character is spoken as one syllable. Chinese words are made up of one, two or more characters and hence one, two or more syllables.* Each syllable is either a ‘final’ or an ‘initial’ followed by a ‘final’.
There are only 413 syllables in common use, which represent thousands of Chinese characters. See below for an instant reference between the pinyin (left) and intuitive English pronunciation (right) for each syllable. The pronunciation for pinyin doesn’t usually vary with tone, so tone markers are unnecessary. There are 4 exceptions however. When pinyin de, ge, ne and zi have tones 1 to 4 they are pronounced “der”, “ger”, “ner” and “dzrr” respectively, but when they have a light tone (tone 5) they are pronounced “duh” “guh”, “nuh” and “”dzuh” respectively.
| a | ah |
| ai | eye |
| an | an |
| ang | ung |
| ao | aoww |
| ba | bah |
| bai | buy |
| ban | ban |
| bang | bung |
| bao | baoww |
| bei | bay |
| ben | bnn |
| beng | bnng |
| bi | bee |
| bian | byen |
| biao | byaoww |
| bie | byeah |
| bin | bin |
| bing | bing |
| bo | bor |
| bu | boo |
| ca | tsah |
| cai | tseye |
| can | tsan |
| cang | tsung |
| cao | tsaoww |
| ce | tser |
| cei | tsay |
| cen | tsnn |
| ceng | tsnng |
| cha | chah |
| chai | cheye |
| chan | chan |
| chang | chung |
| chao | chaoww |
| che | cher |
| chen | chnn |
| cheng | chnng |
| chi | chrr |
| chong | chong |
| chou | choh |
| chu | choo |
| chua | chwah |
| chuai | chwhy |
| chuan | chwan |
| chuang | chwung |
| chui | chway |
| chun | chwnn |
| chuo | chwor |
| ci | tsrr |
| cong | tsong |
| cou | tsoh |
| cu | tsoo |
| cuan | tswan |
| cui | tsway |
| cun | tswnn |
| cuo | tswor |
| da | dah |
| dai | deye |
| dan | dan |
| dang | dung |
| dao | daoww |
| de1-4 | der |
| de5 | duh |
| dei | day |
| den | dnn |
| deng | dnng |
| di | dee |
| dian | dyen |
| diao | dyaoww |
| die | dyeah |
| ding | ding |
| diu | dyoh |
| dong | dong |
| dou | doh |
| du | doo |
| duan | dwan |
| dui | dway |
| dun | dwnn |
| duo | dwor |
| e | er |
| ei | ay |
| en | nn |
| er | urr |
| fa | fah |
| fan | fan |
| fang | fung |
| fei | fay |
| fen | fnn |
| feng | fnng |
| fo | for |
| fou | foh |
| fu | foo |
| ga | gah |
| gai | geye |
| gan | gan |
| gang | gung |
| gao | gaoww |
| ge1-4 | ger |
| ge5 | guh |
| gei | gay |
| gen | gnn |
| geng | gnng |
| gong | gong |
| gou | go |
| gu | goo |
| gua | gwah |
| guai | gwhy |
| guan | gwan |
| guang | gwung |
| gui | gway |
| gun | gwnn |
| guo | gwor |
| ha | hah |
| hai | hi |
| han | han |
| hang | hung |
| hao | haoww |
| he | her |
| hei | hay |
| hen | hnn |
| heng | hnng |
| hm | hmm |
| hng | hng |
| hong | hong |
| hou | hoh |
| hu | hoo |
| hua | hwah |
| huai | hwhy |
| huan | hwan |
| huang | hwung |
| hui | hway |
| hun | hwnn |
| huo | hwor |
| ji | jee |
| jia | jyah |
| jian | jyen |
| jiang | jyang |
| jiao | jyaoww |
| jie | jyeah |
| jin | jin |
| jing | jing |
| jiong | jyong |
| jiu | jyoh |
| ju | jyoo |
| juan | jwen |
| jue | jwhere |
| jun | jwnn |
| ka | kah |
| kai | keye |
| kan | kan |
| kang | kung |
| kao | kaoww |
| ke | ker |
| kei | kay |
| ken | knn |
| keng | knng |
| kong | kong |
| kou | koh |
| ku | koo |
| kua | kwah |
| kuai | kwhy |
| kuan | kwan |
| kuang | kwung |
| kui | kway |
| kun | kwnn |
| kuo | kwor |
| lv | lyoo |
| la | lah |
| lai | leye |
| lan | lan |
| lang | lung |
| lao | laoww |
| le | ler |
| lve | lyouair |
| lei | lay |
| leng | lnng |
| li | lee |
| lia | lyah |
| lian | lyen |
| liang | lyang |
| liao | lyaoww |
| lie | lyeah |
| lin | lin |
| ling | ling |
| liu | lyoh |
| long | long |
| lou | loh |
| lu | loo |
| luan | lwan |
| lun | lwnn |
| luo | lwor |
| m | mm |
| ma | mah |
| mai | meye |
| man | man |
| mang | mung |
| mao | maoww |
| me | muh |
| mei | may |
| men | mnn |
| meng | mnng |
| mi | mee |
| mian | myen |
| miao | myaoww |
| mie | myeah |
| min | min |
| ming | ming |
| miu | myoo |
| mo | mor |
| mou | moh |
| mu | moo |
| n | nn |
| nv | nyoo |
| na | nah |
| nai | neye |
| nan | nan |
| nang | nanng |
| nao | naoww |
| ne1-4 | ner |
| ne5 | nuh |
| nve | nyouair |
| nei | nay |
| nen | nnn |
| neng | nung |
| ng | nng |
| ni | nee |
| nian | nyen |
| niang | nyang |
| niao | nyaoww |
| nie | nyeah |
| nin | neen |
| ning | ning |
| niu | nyoh |
| nong | nong |
| nou | noh |
| nu | noo |
| nuan | nwan |
| nuo | nwor |
| o | or |
| ou | oh |
| pa | pah |
| pai | peye |
| pan | pan |
| pang | pung |
| pao | paoww |
| pei | pay |
| pen | pnn |
| peng | pnng |
| pi | pee |
| pian | pyen |
| piao | pyaoww |
| pie | pyeah |
| pin | pin |
| ping | ping |
| po | por |
| pou | poh |
| pu | poo |
| qi | chee |
| qia | chyah |
| qian | chyan |
| qiang | chyang |
| qiao | chyaoww |
| qie | chyeah |
| qin | chin |
| qing | ching |
| qiong | chyong |
| qiu | chyoh |
| qu | chyoo |
| quan | chwen |
| que | chwhere |
| qun | chwnn |
| ran | ran |
| rang | rung |
| rao | raoww |
| re | rer |
| ren | rnn |
| reng | rnng |
| ri | rrr |
| rong | rong |
| rou | roh |
| ru | roo |
| rua | rwah |
| ruan | rwan |
| rui | rway |
| run | rwnn |
| ruo | rwor |
| sa | sah |
| sai | seye |
| san | san |
| sang | sung |
| sao | saoww |
| se | ser |
| sei | say |
| sen | snn |
| seng | snng |
| sha | shah |
| shai | sheye |
| shan | shan |
| shang | shung |
| shao | shaoww |
| she | sher |
| shei | shay |
| shen | shnn |
| sheng | shnng |
| shi | shrr |
| shou | shoh |
| shu | shoo |
| shua | shwah |
| shuai | shwhy |
| shuan | shwan |
| shuang | shwung |
| shui | shway |
| shun | shwnn |
| shuo | shwor |
| si | srr |
| song | song |
| sou | soh |
| su | soo |
| suan | swann |
| sui | sway |
| sun | swnn |
| suo | swor |
| ta | tah |
| tai | teye |
| tan | tan |
| tang | tung |
| tao | taoww |
| te | ter |
| teng | tnng |
| ti | tee |
| tian | tyen |
| tiao | tyaoww |
| tie | tyeah |
| ting | ting |
| tong | tong |
| tou | toh |
| tu | too |
| tuan | twan |
| tui | tway |
| tun | twnn |
| tuo | twor |
| wa | wah |
| wai | why |
| wan | wan |
| wang | wung |
| wei | way |
| wen | wnn |
| weng | wnng |
| wo | wor |
| wu | woo |
| xi | sshee |
| xia | sshyah |
| xian | sshyen |
| xiang | sshyang |
| xiao | sshyaoww |
| xie | sshyeah |
| xin | sshin |
| sshing | |
| xiong | sshyong |
| xiu | sshyoh |
| xu | sshyoo |
| xuan | sshywen |
| xue | sshyouair |
| xun | sshwnn |
| ya | yah |
| yan | yen |
| yang | yang |
| yao | yaoww |
| ye | yeah |
| yi | ee |
| yin | yin |
| ying | ying |
| yong | yong |
| you | yoh |
| yu | yoo |
| yuan | ywhen |
| yue | yhwere |
| yun | ywnn |
| za | dzah |
| zai | dzeye |
| zan | dzan |
| zang | dzung |
| zao | dzaoww |
| ze | dzer |
| zei | dzay |
| zen | dznn |
| zeng | dznng |
| zha | jar |
| zhai | jeye |
| zhan | jan |
| zhang | jung |
| zhao | jaoww |
| zhe | jer |
| zhei | jay |
| zhen | jnn |
| zheng | jnng |
| zhi | jrr |
| zhong | jong |
| zhou | joh |
| zhu | joo |
| zhua | jwah |
| zhuai | jwhy |
| zhuan | jwan |
| zhuang | jwung |
| zhui | jway |
| zhun | jwnn |
| zhuo | jwor |
| zi1–4 | dzrr |
| zi5 | dzuh |
| zong | dzong |
| zou | dzoh |
| zuan | dzwan |
| zui | dzway |
| zun | dzwnn |
| zuo | dzwor |
| zu | dzoo |
THE BASIC 3 TYPES OF CHARACTERS
Traditionally in China, characters are divided into three groups:
Here r the 3000 most common Chinese Characters according to one web site.
Obviously these should be learnt first.
Analyses of characters since ancient times have indicated several major methods by which characters were formed.
This work was first done in the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) by a philologist named Xuˇ Shèn 許慎 in a book titled Shuō wén jiě zì 說文解字, or Analysis of Characters. Xu Shen divided all characters used in his day into two broad categories: single-component characters (such as 木 mù, “tree”) and multiple-component characters (such as 林 lín, “woods,” which combines two “tree” symbols into one character). Single-component characters are called 文 wén and multiple-compo- nent characters 字 zì. Hence, the literal translation of the title of Xu Shen’s book is “speaking of wen and explanation of zi.” Six categories of characters were identified that ref lect major principles of character formation and use. The book lists 9,353 characters plus 1,163 variant forms. It is believed to be the most comprehensive study of characters in use during that time.
Within Xu Shen’s six classes, four (classes 1, 2, 3, and 5) have to do with the for- mation of characters. The other two regard character use. The sixth class, known as 轉注 zhuanzhù or “semantic transfer,” will not be looked at in detail here be- cause it involves disagreement among scholars, and examples are scarce. For people without knowledge of Chinese writing, the etymology of the examples for each category is quite interesting. They make useful mnemonic devices for learning some characters.
PICTOGRAPHS
Many early written signs in Chinese originated from sketches of objects. Thus they bore a physical resemblance to the objects they represented, like pictures, which is why they are called pictographs. Gradually they evolved from the original pictographic symbols into their modern forms by a process of simplification and abstraction, during which details were left out and curves were changed into straight lines. As a result, modern characters are far removed from their original pictures, al- though they sometimes still show traces of the objects they represent. Although these are the most frequently used examples of pictographic characters, modern people without any knowledge of Chinese characters, when seeing these sym- bols, would make no connection to their referents before the similarities were explained. The character 日 rì, “sun,” for example, looks more like a window, while the character 月 yuè, “moon,” resembles a stepladder. Generally speaking, without knowing the meaning of these characters, one cannot decode them by merely looking.
INDICATIVES
An indicative is a character made by adding strokes to another symbol in order to indicate the new character’s meaning. For example,
刃 rèn, “blade.” A dot is added to 刀 dāo, “knife.”
旦 dàn, “morning.” A horizontal line is added underneath 日 rì, “sun” to show the time when the sun is just above the horizon.
本 běn, “root.” A short line is added to 木 mù, “tree.”
SEMANTIC COMPOUNDS
Semantic compounds are constructed by combining two or more components that collectively contribute to the meaning of the new character. Examples are
明 míng, “bright,” is a combination of 日 rì, “sun,” and 月 yuè, “moon.”
信 xìn, “trust,” combines 人 rén, “person,” and 言 yán, “words.”
看 kàn, “look,” has 手 shoˇu, “hand,” over 目 mù, “eye.”
林 lín, “woods,” shows two 木 mù, “tree.”
森 sēn, “forest,” is composed of three 木 mù, “tree.”
囚 qiú, “prison,” is represented by a 人 rén, “person,” in 囗, confinement.
BORROWING
Borrowing in this context refers to the use of existing characters to represent additional new meanings. Two frequently used examples are
來 lái, originally a pictograph for “wheat.” The written character with its pronunciation was later borrowed to mean “to come.” In time, the borrowed meaning prevailed, and the original meaning of “wheat” died away.
去 qù, originally a pictograph for a cooking utensil. Later the character was borrowed to mean “to go.” The borrowed mean- ing also prevailed, and the original meaning died away.
SEMANTIC PHONETIC
Semantic-phonetic compounds are a hybrid category constructed by combining a meaning element and a sound element. This method of character formation thrived as a means to solve the ambiguity problem caused by borrowing. As can be easily seen, when a particular character is borrowed to mean more and more different things, sooner or later, the interpretation of the multiple-meaning writ- ten sign becomes a problem. To solve the problem and to allow borrowing to continue, a semantic element is added to indicate the specific meaning of the new character. This process led to the creation of semantic-phonetic compounds.
Thus, a semantic-phonetic compound has two components, one indicating meaning and the other pronunciation. Take 主 zhuˇ, “host,” as an example. In modern Chinese, the character is used as a phonetic element in more than ten semantic-phonetic compounds, five of which are shown in Table 6.1. The five characters in the first column are pronounced exactly the same way, zhù, although they are different in meaning. They share the same phonetic element, 主 zhuˇ, which is the right-hand side of the characters. The signs on the left are semantic components, which offer some clue to the meaning of the characters.
The semantic elements, for example, 亻, “person,” 氵, “water,” and 木, “tree,” are pictographs commonly known as “radicals.” Their function is to hint at the meaning of the characters in which they appear. At the same time, they also group semantically related characters into classes. For example, all the characters with 亻, “person,” as a component have to do, at least in theory, with a person or people; all the characters with 木, “tree,” as a component have to do with wood or trees. Traditionally, Chinese characters are categorized under 214 radicals. One way to organize characters in dictionaries is to group them under these radicals.
Table 6.2 brief ly illustrates the combination of semantic and phonetic elements in the formation of characters. The vertical columns group characters by phonetic elements, and the horizontal rows group characters by semantic elements. In other words, characters in the same column have phonetic similarities and those in the same row share semantic features. As seen in Table 6.2, the arrangement of the two elements in a semantic-phonetic compound can be left to right or top to bottom (as in 菁, 筒, and 苛). Other patterns not shown here include outside to inside, as in the character 国 guó, “country.” Radicals may take any position in a character.
In modern Chinese, the majority of characters in the writing system belong to the category of semantic-phonetic compounds. From as early as the Han dynasty, this became the most productive method for creating new characters. It is worth noting, however, that there are problems with extensive reliance on semantic- phonetic characters. Languages change over time, and Chinese is no exception. Both the pronunciation and the meaning of characters are in a state of f lux. While the written signs remain constant, over time sound change and semantic evolution have eroded the relationships between characters and their sound and semantic components, making it more and more difficult to deduce the meaning and pronunciation of a character from its written form. Now, as can be partially seen in Table 6.2, phonetic elements do not indicate the pronunciation of the characters
clearly and accurately; nor do semantic elements show the exact meaning of char- acters. In modern Chinese, the value of semantic-phonetic characters resides in the combination of these two types of information to determine a character’s meaning and pronunciation.
The third stage combines semantic and phonetic information to create new characters. This is the highest stage of development, completed in the Han dynas- ty, about two thousand years ago, when the Chinese writing system reached maturity. No new method has appeared since then, although the existing categories of characters have grown and shrunk. In modern Chinese, more than 90 percent of characters in use are semantic-phonetic compounds; those that can be traced back to their pictographic origins comprise less than 3 percent.
SCRIPTS AND STYLES
Strictly speaking, only four scripts played major roles in the development of the Chinese writing system: Great Seal (大篆 dàzhuàn), Small Seal (小篆 xiaozhuàn), Clerical (隸書 lìshū), and Regular (楷書 kaishū). They are considered major scripts because at different times they were formally adopted for official documentation. Great Seal Script is a cover term for several ancient scripts used over 1,200 years before the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), including Shell and Bone Script (甲骨文 jiaguwén), Bronze Script (金文 jīnwén), and Stone Drum Script (石鼓文 shíguˇwén).3 Since the Qin dynasty, three major script changes have taken place: from Great Seal to Small Seal, from Small Seal to Clerical, and from Clerical to Regular.
The Running (行書 xíngshū) and Cursive styles (草書 caoshū) were initially developed as informal ways to increase writing speed. Later they were also adopted for art. However, they do not represent major script changes; they only reflect modifications of the major scripts. As will be discussed below, they are much less standardized and are not used in official documents. For that reason, they are referred to as styles rather than scripts.
DEFINITION OF RADICAL/PRIMITIVE VS PHONETIC:
Chinese characters and languages are actually based predominantly of Monosyllabic Words or Morphemes. These monosyllables are then combined into Polysyllabic characters or words – predominantly 2 syllables, then 3, then 4 – possibly up to 6 – but decreasing in frequency as you go along. Most new words or characters are then “produced” in modern Chinese. The notion of Radicals and Phonetics are actually based on Western Scholars’ classification of the Chinese language – as the Eastern/Chinese Classification is too cumbersome and complicated for Western Scholars – although classification by Radicals is one of 4 criteria used by Chinese Scholars..
The first part of the new word/character is called the radical and the second part is called the phonetic. The radical – or primitive as it is also referred to – gives you an idea of what the word represents and the phonetic gives you a clue as to how it is supposed to sound. Any morpheme can be a radical and any morpheme can essentially be a phonetic. All morphemes are made of certain strokes which are the basic forms of the “alphabet” – Chinese character to be written.
There are essentially 8 major strokes.
Table 3.1. the eight Major stroke types
Far from being complicated drawings, Chinese characters are made out of simple single strokes, all of them variations of only eight basic ones. All strokes have their own name and are written according to a few rules. It’s very important to learn to recognize them, since the number of strokes in a character is often the easiest way to find it in an index… but this will become clear after learning radicals and the use of dictionaries.
1. The following are the first six strokes, the fundamental ones:
 |
heng | horizontal stroke (written from left to right) |
as in the character yi (one) |
 |
shu | vertical stroke (written from top to bottom) |
as in the character shi (ten) |
 |
pie | down stroke to the left (written from top right to bottom left) |
as in the character ba (eight) |
 |
na | down stroke to the right (written from top left to bottom right) |
as in the character ru (to enter) |
 |
dian | dot (written from top to bottom right or left) |
as in the character liu (six) |
 |
ti | upward stroke (written from bottom left to top right) |
as in the character ba (to grasp) |
2. The last two strokes have several different variations. The first group is composed by five strokes with a hook:
 |
henggou | horizontal stroke with a hook | as in the character zi (character) |
 |
shugou | vertical stroke with a hook | as in the character xiao (small) |
 |
wangou | bending stroke with a hook | as in the character gou (dog) |
 |
xiegou | slant stroke with a hook | as in the character wo (I, me) |
 |
pinggou | level bending stroke with a hook | as in the character wang (to forget) |
3. And the following by two single strokes with a turn:
 |
shuzhe | vertical stroke with a horizontal turn to the right | as in the character yi (doctor, medicine) |
 |
hengzhe | horizontal stroke with a vertical turn | as in the character kou (mouth) |
4. Combined strokes are made out of basic ones. The following are a few examples:
 |
shuwangou | vertical stroke combined with a level bending stroke with a hook | as in the character ye (also) |
 |
piedian | down stroke to the left combined with a dot | as in the character nu (woman) |
 |
shuzhezhegou | vertical stroke with a double turn and a hook | as in the character ma (horse) |
If a character can be compared to a word in alphabetic languages, then strokes are like letters… learning them is the key to memorize characters. And then, characters don’t only need to be correct, they should also be as beautiful and balanced as possible. It is therefore necessary to copy the single strokes many times (be it with a brush or, much easier, with a pen) to memorize their shape and thickness.
http://www.clearchinese.com/chinese-writing/strokes.htm
STROKE ORDER:
Strokes are combined together according to a few fixed rules (and to several exceptions!). Learn these rules, because they’re of great help for memorizing characters. They are also fundamental in case you need to recognize the first stroke of a character, but we’ll talk about that again.
1. Strokes at the top before those at the bottom.
| The character |  san (three) |
is written this way: |  |
| The character |  tian (heaven) |
is written this way: |  |
2. Strokes to the left before those to the right.
| The character |  men (door) |
is written this way: |  |
| The character |  hua (to change) |
is written this way: |  |
3. Containing strokes before contained ones.
| The character |  si (four) |
is written this way: |  |
The sealing horizontal stroke must be written last (“close the door after you have entered the room”) |
| The character |  yue (moon) |
is written this way: |  |
But:
| The character |  zhe (this) |
is written this way: |  |
4. Vertical stroke in the middle before those on both sides or at the bottom.
| The character |  shui (water) |
is written this way: |  |
| The character |  shan (mountain) |
is written this way: |  |
But:
| The character |  zhong (middle) |
is written this way: |  |
The fundamental rules – from top to bottom and from left to right – are easily understandable, since they are used in Western writings, too. The others on the contrary need a few exercise. Be sure to learn from the beginning the correct way each different character should be written; otherwise you may find yourself repeating the same mistakes over and over without realizing it, especially when you’ll know hundreds of characters.
http://www.clearchinese.com/chinese-writing/stroke-order.htm
The “meaning” radicals total 52. As a matter of fact, the complete list of Chinese radicals are more than that. But I only list the ones that I perceive have the value to be memorized and eventually help you learn new characters with less effort.
(A little explanation of “meaning radicals” here: when I say “meaning radical”, it means these radicals only imply the meaning of the character. They have ZERO connection to the pronunciation of the characters.)
It is possible that I might have missed certain “meaning radical ” that worth to be included in the list. By all means, if you find one, let me know. I do appreciate.
So here we go, all the 52 “meaning radicals” in one table.
I’d strongly suggest you to memorize all of them. What you need to memorize? Their shape and meaning, that’s all. It’ll be better if you can write them down on paper while memorizing them. Some readers are using sketching pad to practice online – also a brilliant idea! If you have an iPad, android, or any other touch screen tablet or phone, you can also practice directly with your finger. After all, the goal here is to get familiar with them, the more the better.
COMPOUND WORDS
Once you have learnt the 214 or so radicals, you should realize that new words are made up by “compounding” the radicals and essentially more often – the “meaning radicals”
Here’s a breakdown, as per Mandarin Segments:
When 1-1=1
Yes, this exists too – where even introducing a completely contradictory word doesn’t change the meaning of the first …
忘记 (wàngjì): forget+remember = forget
全部 (quánbù): whole+part = whole
但是 (dànshì): but+indeed = but
毒药 (dúyào): poison+medicine = poison
When 376+1=1
白痴 (báichī): white(!)+dumb = dumb
干净 (gānjìng): dry(!)+clean = clean
原谅 (yuánliàng): source(!)+forgive = forgive
愉快 (yúkuài): pleasant+fast(!) = pleasant
When 1+2=634
How about this …
漂亮 (piàoliang): pretty = tossed light
面包 (miànbāo): surface+package = bread
马上 (mǎshàng): horse+on = immediately
有机 (yǒujī): have+machine = organic
厉害 (lìhai): severe+injury = awesome
消息 (xiāoxi): extinguish+rest = news
| Most experts agree on 214 Chinese radicals – expressed from 1 – 214.Here are the radicals in English Alphabetical Order.
Chinese Radical Table |
|||||
| Order by: Radical Number Stroke Count Pinyin English | |||||
| Radical No. | Radical | English | Pinyin | Stroke Count | Variant (traditional) |
| 29 | 又 | again | yòu | 2 | |
| 126 | 而 | and | ér | 6 | |
| 133 | 至 | arrive | zhì | 6 | |
| 111 | 矢 | arrow | shǐ | 5 | |
| 69 | 斤 | axe | jīn | 4 | |
| 153 | 豸 | badger | zhì | 7 | |
| 118 | 竹 | bamboo | zhú | 6 | |
| 151 | 豆 | bean | dòu | 7 | |
| 37 | 大 | big | dà | 3 | |
| 196 | 鸟 | bird | niǎo | 5 | (鳥) |
| 160 | 辛 | bitter | xīn | 7 | |
| 203 | 黑 | black | hēi | 12 | |
| 143 | 血 | blood | xuě | 6 | |
| 174 | 青 | blue | qīng | 8 | |
| 137 | 舟 | boat | zhōu | 6 | |
| 158 | 身 | body | shēn | 7 | |
| 188 | 骨 | bone | gǔ | 9 | |
| 57 | 弓 | bow | gōng | 3 | |
| 65 | 支 | branch | zhī | 4 | |
| 129 | 聿 | brush | yù | 6 | |
| 159 | 车 | cart | chē | 4 | (車) |
| 193 | 鬲 | cauldron | lì | 10 | |
| 116 | 穴 | cave | xuè | 5 | |
| 39 | 子 | child | zǐ | 3 | |
| 163 | 邑 | city | yì | 7 | 阝 |
| 83 | 氏 | clan | shì | 4 | |
| 87 | 爪 | claw | zhǎo | 4 | 爫 |
| 27 | 厂 | cliff | hàn | 2 | |
| 103 | 疋 | cloth | pǐ | 5 | |
| 145 | 衣 | clothes | yī | 6 | 衤 |
| 139 | 色 | color | sè | 6 | |
| 81 | 比 | compare | bǐ | 4 | |
| 136 | 舛 | contrary | chuǎn | 6 | |
| 44 | 尸 | corpse | shī | 3 | |
| 14 | 冖 | cover | mì | 2 | |
| 93 | 牛 | cow | niú | 4 | 牜 |
| 78 | 歹 | death | dǎi | 4 | |
| 198 | 鹿 | deer | lù | 11 | |
| 68 | 斗 | dipper | dǒu | 4 | |
| 108 | 皿 | dish | mǐn | 5 | |
| 165 | 釆 | distinguish | biàn | 7 | |
| 25 | 卜 | divination | bǔ | 2 | |
| 94 | 犭 | dog | quǎn | 3 | 犬 |
| 63 | 户 | door | hù | 4 | |
| 3 | 丶 | dot | diǎn | 1 | |
| 13 | 冂 | down box | jiǒng | 2 | |
| 212 | 龙 | dragon | lóng | 5 | (龍) |
| 207 | 鼓 | drum | gǔ | 13 | |
| 51 | 干 | dry | gān | 3 | |
| 128 | 耳 | ear | ěr | 6 | |
| 32 | 土 | earth | tǔ | 3 | |
| 184 | 饣 | eat | shí | 3 | 飠 食 |
| 12 | 八 | eight | bā | 2 | 丷 |
| 204 | 黹 | embroidery | zhǐ | 12 | |
| 31 | 囗 | enclosure | wéi | 3 | |
| 11 | 入 | enter | rù | 2 | |
| 210 | 齐 | even | qí | 6 | (齊) |
| 109 | 目 | eye | mù | 5 | |
| 176 | 面 | face | miàn | 9 | |
| 92 | 牙 | fang | yá | 4 | |
| 88 | 父 | father | fù | 4 | |
| 124 | 羽 | feather | yǔ | 6 | |
| 102 | 田 | field | tián | 5 | |
| 191 | 鬥 | fight | dòu | 10 | |
| 86 | 火 | fire | huǒ | 4 | 灬 |
| 195 | 鱼 | fish | yú | 8 | (魚) |
| 214 | 龠 | flute | yuè | 17 | |
| 183 | 飞 | fly | fēi | 4 | (飛) |
| 157 | 足 | foot | zú | 7 | |
| 105 | 癶 | foot steps | bō | 5 | |
| 186 | 香 | fragrant | xiāng | 9 | |
| 205 | 黾 | frog | mǐn | 8 | (黽) |
| 82 | 毛 | fur | máo | 4 | |
| 169 | 门 | gate | mén | 3 | (門) |
| 194 | 鬼 | ghost | guǐ | 9 | |
| 34 | 夂 | go | suī | 3 | |
| 35 | 夊 | go slowly | zhī | 3 | |
| 115 | 禾 | grain | hé | 5 | |
| 140 | 艹 | grass | cǎo | 3 | |
| 59 | 彡 | hair | shān | 3 | |
| 90 | 爿 | half of a tree trunk | qiáng | 4 | |
| 64 | 手 | hand | shǒu | 4 | 扌 |
| 55 | 廾 | hands joined | gǒng | 3 | |
| 185 | 首 | head | shǒu | 9 | |
| 61 | 心 | heart | xīn | 4 | 忄 |
| 200 | 麻 | hemp | má | 11 | |
| 23 | 匸 | hiding enclosure | xǐ | 2 | |
| 189 | 高 | high | gāo | 10 | |
| 6 | 亅 | hook | gōu | 1 | |
| 148 | 角 | horn | jiǎo | 7 | |
| 187 | 马 | horse | mǎ | 3 | (馬) |
| 15 | 冫 | ice | bīng | 2 | |
| 104 | 疒 | ill | bìng | 5 | |
| 41 | 寸 | inch | cùn | 3 | |
| 142 | 虫 | insect | chóng | 6 | |
| 96 | 玉 | jade | yù | 5 | 王 |
| 121 | 缶 | jar | fǒu | 6 | |
| 18 | 刀 | knife | dāo | 2 | 刂 |
| 76 | 欠 | lack | qiàn | 4 | |
| 21 | 匕 | ladle | bǐ | 2 | |
| 43 | 尢 | lame | yóu | 3 | 尣 |
| 177 | 革 | leather | gé | 9 | |
| 179 | 韭 | leek | jiǔ | 9 | |
| 10 | 儿 | legs | ér | 2 | |
| 8 | 亠 | lid | tóu | 2 | |
| 100 | 生 | life | shēng | 5 | |
| 2 | 丨 | line | shù | 1 | |
| 89 | 爻 | lines on a trigram | yáo | 4 | |
| 168 | 长 | long | cháng | 4 | (長) |
| 190 | 髟 | long hair | biāo | 10 | |
| 130 | 肉 | meat | ròu | 6 | |
| 97 | 瓜 | melon | guā | 5 | |
| 167 | 钅 | metal | jīn | 5 | 金 |
| 202 | 黍 | millet | shǔ | 12 | |
| 131 | 臣 | minister | chén | 6 | |
| 74 | 月 | moon | yuè | 4 | |
| 161 | 辰 | morning | chén | 7 | |
| 134 | 臼 | mortar | jiù | 6 | |
| 80 | 母 | mother | mǔ | 4 | 毋 |
| 170 | 阜 | mound | fù | 8 | 阝 |
| 138 | 艮 | mountain | gèn | 6 | |
| 46 | 山 | mountain | shān | 3 | |
| 30 | 口 | mouth | kǒu | 3 | |
| 122 | 网 | net | wǎng | 6 | 罒 |
| 36 | 夕 | night | xī | 3 | |
| 209 | 鼻 | nose | bí | 14 | |
| 71 | 无 | not | wú | 4 | |
| 125 | 老 | old | lǎo | 6 | |
| 1 | 一 | one | yī | 1 | |
| 132 | 自 | oneself | zì | 6 | |
| 49 | 己 | oneself | jǐ | 3 | |
| 17 | 凵 | open box | qǔ | 2 | |
| 181 | 页 | page | yè | 6 | (頁) |
| 9 | 人 | person | rén | 2 | 亻 |
| 152 | 豖 | pig | shǐ | 7 | |
| 127 | 耒 | plow | lěi | 6 | |
| 19 | 力 | power | lì | 2 | |
| 28 | 厶 | private | sī | 2 | |
| 95 | 玄 | profound | xuán | 5 | |
| 173 | 雨 | rain | yǔ | 8 | |
| 66 | 攴 | rap | pū | 4 | 攵 |
| 208 | 鼠 | rat | shǔ | 13 | |
| 155 | 赤 | red | chì | 7 | |
| 119 | 米 | rice | mǐ | 6 | |
| 22 | 匚 | right open box | fāng | 2 | |
| 47 | 川 | river | chuān | 3 | 巛 巜 |
| 40 | 宀 | roof | gài | 3 | |
| 192 | 鬯 | sacrificial wine | chàng | 10 | |
| 197 | 卤 | salty | lǔ | 7 | |
| 73 | 曰 | say | yuē | 4 | |
| 33 | 士 | scholar | shì | 3 | |
| 67 | 文 | script | wén | 4 | |
| 26 | 卩 | seal | jié | 2 | |
| 5 | 乙 | second | yǐ | 1 | 乚 乛 |
| 147 | 见 | see | jiàn | 4 | (見) |
| 123 | 羊 | sheep | yáng | 6 | |
| 154 | 贝 | shell | bèi | 4 | (貝) |
| 53 | 广 | shelter | guǎng | 3 | |
| 56 | 弋 | shoot with a bow | yì | 3 | |
| 172 | 隹 | short-tailed bird | zhuī | 8 | |
| 120 | 纟 | silk | sī | 3 | (糸) |
| 107 | 皮 | skin | pí | 5 | |
| 4 | 丿 | slash | piě | 1 | 乀 乁 |
| 171 | 隶 | slave | lì | 8 | |
| 91 | 片 | slice | piàn | 4 | |
| 42 | 小 | small | xiǎo | 3 | |
| 58 | 彐 | snout | jì | 3 | 彑 |
| 178 | 韦 | soft leather | wěi | 4 | (韋) |
| 180 | 音 | sound | yīn | 9 | |
| 62 | 戈 | spear | gē | 4 | |
| 110 | 矛 | spear | máo | 5 | |
| 149 | 讠 | speech | yán | 2 | (言) |
| 113 | 示 | spirit | shì | 5 | 礻 |
| 45 | 屮 | sprout | chè | 3 | |
| 70 | 方 | square | fāng | 4 | |
| 117 | 立 | stand | lì | 5 | |
| 84 | 气 | steam | qì | 4 | |
| 60 | 彳 | step | chì | 3 | |
| 112 | 石 | stone | shí | 5 | |
| 77 | 止 | stop | zhǐ | 4 | |
| 54 | 廴 | stride | yǐn | 3 | |
| 72 | 日 | sun | rì | 4 | |
| 99 | 甘 | sweet | gān | 5 | |
| 16 | 几 | table | jī, jǐ | 2 | |
| 24 | 十 | ten | shí | 2 | |
| 52 | 幺 | thread | yāo | 3 | |
| 141 | 虍 | tiger | hǔ | 6 | |
| 98 | 瓦 | tile | wǎ | 5 | |
| 135 | 舌 | tongue | shé | 6 | |
| 211 | 齿 | tooth | chǐ | 8 | (齒) |
| 50 | 巾 | towel | jīn | 3 | |
| 114 | 禸 | track | róu | 4 | |
| 75 | 木 | tree | mù | 4 | |
| 206 | 鼎 | tripod | dǐng | 12 | |
| 213 | 龟 | turtle | guī | 7 | (龜) |
| 7 | 二 | two | èr | 2 | |
| 101 | 用 | use | yòng | 5 | |
| 150 | 谷 | valley | gǔ | 7 | |
| 166 | 里 | village | lǐ | 7 | |
| 156 | 走 | walk | zǒu | 7 | |
| 144 | 行 | walk | xíng | 6 | |
| 162 | 辶 | walk | chuò | 3 | |
| 85 | 水 | water | shuǐ | 4 | 氵 |
| 79 | 殳 | weapon | shū | 4 | |
| 146 | 西 | west | xī | 6 | 覀 |
| 199 | 麦 | wheat | mài | 7 | (麥) |
| 106 | 白 | white | bái | 5 | |
| 182 | 风 | wind | fēng | 4 | (風) |
| 164 | 酉 | wine | yǒu | 7 | |
| 38 | 女 | woman | nǚ | 3 | |
| 48 | 工 | work | gōng | 3 | |
| 20 | 勹 | wrap | bāo | 2 | |
| 175 | 非 | wrong | fēi | 8 | |
| 201 | 黃 | yellow | huáng | 11 | |
Learning SA Chinese 