How Chinese characters works
What is special about Chinese character?
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Most of the world’s languages are written alphabetically; in an alphabetic writing system the basic components represent sounds only without any reference to meaning. For example, the letter “b” in English represents a voiced bilabial stop, but no particular meaning can be attached to it in its function as a letter of the alphabet. Chinese writing is logographic, that is, every symbol either represents a word or a minimal unit of meaning.
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Watch the following video to see how Chinese characters works.
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Principles of formation
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All Chinese characters are logograms, but several different types can be identified, based on the manner in which they are formed or derived. Please view this slide that explains the traditional six-fold classification (liùshÅ« å…书 / å…書 "six writings") which was first described by the scholar Xu Shen in the postface of his dictionary Shuowen Jiezi (说文解å—) in 100 AD.
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An example of Chinese characters
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Scholars of the Chinese language know that traditional Chinese culture loves beautiful words. This character means "to listen". The wisdom of ancient Chinese believes to listen includes not only ears to hear, but also mind to think, eyes to see, undivided attention to focus and most importantly, heart to feel. Do you agree with them?
Quiz
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Complete this quiz after you have viewed all of the contents in this page.
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