Traditional characters 1
Learning Chinese: writing the characters of Unit 1
Please choose how the character breakdown is displayed:
嗎 : final interrogative particle
Stroke order:
Graphic components: 口 mouth; 马 horse.
Etymology : 嗎 is a phono-semantic compound. It is made up of 口 (the mouth), which indicates the act of opening one's mouth to speak or ask a question, and of 馬 (the horse), which indicates the pronunciation of the character.
Stroke order:
Graphic components: 口 mouth; 马 horse.
Etymology : 嗎 is a phono-semantic compound. It is made up of 口 (the mouth), which indicates the act of opening one's mouth to speak or ask a question, and of 馬 (the horse), which indicates the pronunciation of the character.
Character evolution :
| Bronze | Seal script | Clerical script | Regular script | Simplified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 吗 | 吗 | 吗 | 吗 | 吗 |
氣 : (breath); not used on its own. It loses its tone in the word "to be polite".
Stroke order:
Graphic components: 气 the breath; 米 the rice.
Etymology : 气 is a pictogram that represented wisps of mist. Surprisingly, the simplified character revives the oldest form. Later, the rice component 米 was added to it to form the traditional 氣. The 气 is the famous QI (formerly written CHI), the energy that martial-arts practitioners cultivate and that acupuncture needles disperse or tonify.
Phonetics: the in pinyin is pronounced with a burst of air (aspirated consonant), a bit like a "ts", but with the BACK OF THE TONGUE. The trick is to place the tip of your tongue behind your lower teeth and pronounce "ts".
Stroke order:
Graphic components: 气 the breath; 米 the rice.
Etymology : 气 is a pictogram that represented wisps of mist. Surprisingly, the simplified character revives the oldest form. Later, the rice component 米 was added to it to form the traditional 氣. The 气 is the famous QI (formerly written CHI), the energy that martial-arts practitioners cultivate and that acupuncture needles disperse or tonify.
Character evolution :
| Oracle bone | Bronze | Seal script | Clerical script | Regular script | Simplified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 气 | 气 | 气 | 气 | 气 | 气 |
見 : to see, to catch sight of
Stroke order:
Graphic components: 見 is a graphic component.
Etymology : 見 an ideogram made up of the eye 目 and a human 人. It meant and still means "to see, to catch sight of".
Phonetics: the in pinyin is pronounced between "dz" and "dj", but with the BACK OF THE TONGUE. Tip: pronounce "dz" with the tip of your tongue behind your lower teeth. in pinyin is pronounced like "yen" in English.
Stroke order:
Graphic components: 見 is a graphic component.
Etymology : 見 an ideogram made up of the eye 目 and a human 人. It meant and still means "to see, to catch sight of".
Character evolution :
| Oracle bone | Bronze | Seal script | Clerical script | Regular script | Simplified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 見 | 见 | 见 | 见 | 见 | 见 |
The following character, 謝, is harder to write. If you find it difficult to study, you can set its writing aside — you should at least be able to read it. You can come back to it later, once you are more comfortable with Chinese writing.
謝 : (thank you)
Stroke order:
Graphic components: 言 speech; 身 the body; 寸 the thumb.
Etymology : 谢 is an ideogram. The old traditional character represented an object handed over with both hands. Even today, in China it is more polite to give things with both hands. The stylization of the character led to the evolution into the three graphic components we see here.
Phonetics: the in pinyin is pronounced like an "s", but with the BACK OF THE TONGUE. Tip: pronounce "s" with the tip of your tongue behind your lower teeth.
Stroke order:
Graphic components: 言 speech; 身 the body; 寸 the thumb.
Etymology : 谢 is an ideogram. The old traditional character represented an object handed over with both hands. Even today, in China it is more polite to give things with both hands. The stylization of the character led to the evolution into the three graphic components we see here.
Character evolution :
| Oracle bone | Bronze | Seal script | Clerical script | Regular script | Simplified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
谢 | 谢 | 谢 | 谢 | 谢 |