Traditional characters 1
Learning Chinese: writing the traditional characters of Unit 1
Please choose how the character breakdown is displayed:
從 : from, starting from (coverb introducing the starting point)
Stroke order:
Components: 彳 walking (left half of 行 , the road); 从 two people, one behind the other; 止 the foot.
Etymology: Originally, it was simply written 从: two people, one behind the other, the one at the back following the one in front. Later, the road 彳 and the foot 止 were added to make it clear that it means walking behind someone. It is this form 從 that Taiwan and Hong Kong have kept, whereas the simplification went back to the ancient form 从. From the meaning "to follow", the character moved on to "from, starting from", which you use in 從這裡往前面走。 The starting point is what you follow.
Stroke order:
Components: 彳 walking (left half of 行 , the road); 从 two people, one behind the other; 止 the foot.
Etymology: Originally, it was simply written 从: two people, one behind the other, the one at the back following the one in front. Later, the road 彳 and the foot 止 were added to make it clear that it means walking behind someone. It is this form 從 that Taiwan and Hong Kong have kept, whereas the simplification went back to the ancient form 从. From the meaning "to follow", the character moved on to "from, starting from", which you use in 從這裡往前面走。 The starting point is what you follow.
Character evolution:
| Oracle bone | Bronze | Seal script | Clerical script | Regular script | Simplified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 從 | 从 | 从 | 从 | 从 | 从 |
鐵 : iron
Stroke order:
Components: 釒 metal (left-hand radical, full form of 钅); 戜 phonetic element.
Etymology: 鐵 is a phono-semantic compound: the metal radical 金 gives the meaning, while the right-hand part gave the pronunciation (to today's ear, it no longer gives it at all). The Shuowen, the first Chinese etymological dictionary, literally defines it as "the black metal". With its 21 strokes, the character took a long time to write: the simplification reduced the radical to 钅 and replaced the whole right-hand part with 失 , hence 铁. Ten strokes instead of twenty-one.
Stroke order:
Components: 釒 metal (left-hand radical, full form of 钅); 戜 phonetic element.
Etymology: 鐵 is a phono-semantic compound: the metal radical 金 gives the meaning, while the right-hand part gave the pronunciation (to today's ear, it no longer gives it at all). The Shuowen, the first Chinese etymological dictionary, literally defines it as "the black metal". With its 21 strokes, the character took a long time to write: the simplification reduced the radical to 钅 and replaced the whole right-hand part with 失 , hence 铁. Ten strokes instead of twenty-one.
Character evolution:
| Seal script | Clerical script | Regular script | Simplified |
|---|---|---|---|
| 铁 | 铁 | 铁 | 铁 |