Chinese Characters Ling 203 Languages of the World Overview Most - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Chinese Characters Ling 203 Languages of the World

Overview • Most Chinese characters bear no resemblance to the object/idea they represents, though many of them did historically. • Most Chinese characters are such that they give clues about their pronunciation and meaning.

Little resemblance to meaning

• Occasionally, the evolutionary process is readily inferable.

• The following characters show some resemblance to their meaning.

• The following characters point to an idea or relationship.

• The following characters combine two characters to form a new meaning (most of the symbols you need are on the previous slides) You’ll need these symbols, too!

• The following characters combine two characters to form a new meaning (most of the symbols you need are on the previous slides) d. f. h. g. i. You’ll need these symbols, too! a. b. e. c.

• 95% of Modern Chinese characters have a partial phonetic basis. radical phonetic

• What is the common element, the radical or the phonetic?

• What is the common element, the radical or the phonetic?

• What is the common element, the radical or the phonetic?

• What is the common element, the radical or the phonetic?

• What is the common element, the radical or the phonetic?

• What is the common element, the radical or the phonetic?

All data and images in these slides are taken from: Frommer, Paul & Edward Finegan. 2007. Looking at Language: A Workbook in Elementary Linguistics . Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.