Chinese Writing
Origins of Writing in China
Believed to have begun in 2nd half of 2nd millennium BC
Earliest examples of Chinese writing date to 1500-950 BC (Shang dynasty)
Inscribed on ox scapulae and turtle shells – “oracle bones”
Development of characters
Oracle bones developed into Chinese characters which have gone through several phases
Presently there are 2 completely different sets of characters: non-simplified and simplified
Simplified Chinese Characters
Adopted in the People's Republic of China in 1949
Northern dialect of Mandarin
Known as báihùa (plain language)
Not all writers wanted to adopt the new style
Traditional characters are still used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia.
Examples of traditional vs. simplified characters
Groups of Characters
There have been many attempts to group characters for learning purposes.
4 groups of characters:
Pictographs
Ideographs
Compound pictograph/ideographs
Semantic-phonetic compounds
Pictographs
Characters primarily came from picture drawings.
These were usually sketches of the most basic elements of the object
Pictographs
Ideographs
Ideographs are visual representations of abstract ideas.
Ideographs
one two three above below middle
Compound Pictographs / Compound Ideographs
Compound pictographs and ideographs combine one or more pictographs or ideographs to form new characters. Both component parts contribute to the meaning of the compound character.
Semantic-Phonetic Compound
Pinyin
Pinyin is a way to represent characters and express soundsin Chinese language using the Roman alphabet.
Difficult consonant for western people:
q - Pronounciation between "ch" and "ts"
x - Pronounciation between "sh" and "s"
r - Pronounciation between “r" and “j"z - Sounds like "dz"zh - Sounds like "dj"
Tonal Language First tone: This is the highest tone you
can pronounce in a simple and normal way. It is pronounced with a steady pitch.
Second tone: Rising pitch from low to high.
Third tone: First sinking pitch at the same time as the voice is lowered, followed by a rising pitch and stronger voice.
Forth tone: fast sinking pitch with a sharp end. Toneless: Relax in your mouth and let the tone fall where it is natural.
Neutral Tone: Flat, with no emphasis.
mā má
mǎ mà
ma
Stroke Order
General rules (many exceptions)
1. Top before bottom 2. Left before right 3. Left vertical stroke (usually) before top
horizontal stroke4. Bottom horizontal stroke last5. Center stroke before wings 6. Horizontal strokes before intersecting vertical
strokes 7. Left-falling strokes before right-falling strokes8. Minor strokes (often) last
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