Some tips on how to learn Chinese. Traits, graphemes and keys of Chinese characters Translation of hieroglyphs with a key into Russian

Why are keys needed?

In order to find a word from European languages ​​in the dictionary, it is enough to arm yourself with a good dictionary and find the desired word by its initial letters. We can't do this with Japanese words because of the hieroglyphic system. The most common dictionaries are dictionaries compiled according to the key system. What to do in this case? How to find the right one among thousands of squiggles?

The mandatory minimum of characters that you need to know to live in Japan includes 2136 kanji. At first glance, it may seem that hieroglyphs are a chaotic collection of sticks and lines, the order of which can only be remembered by an exceptional mind. It's actually not that scary. Each, even the most unimaginable hieroglyph, can be decomposed into several simple symbols. Such simple symbols will be the keys, or in Japanese 部首bushyu. That is, the key is a graphic sign that helps to classify and find a hieroglyph in the dictionary.

Some keys, also called radicals, can be independent hieroglyphs, such as the keys “man” 人, “heart” 心 or “hand” 手. Sometimes knowing the meaning of the keys helps you remember the meaning of the kanji. For example, the character 休, which means “rest”, “to rest”, consists of the keys “person” and “tree”. While working in the field, people rest (where?) under a tree. Or another example - the hieroglyph “cheap” 安 consists of the elements “woman” and “roof”. Women under a roof are cheap. But this method is not appropriate in all cases. Sometimes you have to memorize abstract concepts.

Often, without knowing the meaning of the kanji itself, you can guess what area the symbol may be from. For example, characters with the radical “fish” 魚 will most likely mean the names of fish (鮭salmon, 鯨whale), with the key “water” 氵 - everything related to water: 　泳 (swim)、池 (pond). But it is necessary to remember one feature that sometimes a Chinese character was assigned to a Japanese word “just like that”, meaninglessly, also the Japanese “invented” 70 of their own characters, so it is still better to clarify the meanings of kanji in the dictionary.

There are a total of 214 keys, which are located in the key table. Each key is assigned its own number. Many people recommend memorizing the number of radicals in order to quickly find the desired hieroglyph. In our opinion, there is no need to sit and cram all 214 keys at once. They will be memorized gradually while reading texts and looking up words in the dictionary. After some time of regular study of Japanese, you will be able to easily recognize keys in unfamiliar kanji and count strokes.

Hieroglyphs can have one or several keys. In the dictionary, radicals are arranged in order of increasing strokes from one to seventeen.

Keys are divided into strong and weak. If the element is always or almost always a key, then it is a strong key (for example, “fire” 火), and weak keys are often not keys　 (for example, “inch” 寸).

Rules for determining the key in a hieroglyph.

When searching for a hieroglyph, the most important thing is to determine which element is the key. There are some recommendations for this:

1) First you need to make sure that the hieroglyph itself is not a key by counting the features. And if kanji is not the key, then you can safely move on to the next points.

2) If a complex hieroglyph consists of two elements, one of which is on the right and the other on the left, then most likely the key will be the left element. If you did not find the left element in the key table, then the right one will be the key.

3) If in a hieroglyph consisting of two elements, one of them covers the other from several sides, then the key is often the covering element.

4) If in a complex hieroglyph consisting of two elements, one of which is at the top and the other at the bottom, then you need to look for the top one first.

5) After you have found the key, you can start searching for the hieroglyph by the number of features.

But it should be remembered that at first, searching for keys will take a lot of time, and the correct identification of the key will come with experience. Ideally, you need to know the entire key table to quickly and accurately find the key.

How keys are located in hieroglyphs.

Depending on their position, the keys have their own names. Below we give examples with different key positions

Nin-ben (human)

亻. 仕、休、代、住、体、作、何、伝

Tsuti-ben (earth)

土. 地、場、塩、増

Onna – hen (woman)

女. 妹、姉、姫、娘、婚、嫁

Gyōnin - ben (walking man)

彳. 役、彼、待、後、徒、得、復

Rissin-ben (heart)

忄. 情、快、怖、性

Te-hen (hand)

扌. 打、持、指、払

Ki-hen (tree)

木. 村、材、松、林、校

Tsukuri

刀. 刊、判、別、利、副

Akubi (slit)

欠. 次、歌、歓

Kanmuri

U-kanmuri (crown)

宀. 守、安、完、宇、宙、定、宝、実、室

Take-kanmuri (bamboo)

竹. 笑、第、筆、等、算

Kusa-kanmuri (herb)

艹. 花、若、英、茶、草

Ashi

Hitoashi (human feet)

儿. 元、兄、先、光、党

Kokoro (heart)

心. 思、急、息、悲、意、悪、感

Tare

Shikabane (flag)

尸. 尼、尾、局、居、届、屋

Ma-dare (cliff with a point)

广. 広、床、底、店、府、度、庫、庭

Nyō

Shin-shyō (road)

辵. 返、近、辺、通、連、週、道

En-nyō (wide step)

Kamae

Kuni-kamae (box)

囗. 困、団、囲、図、国、園

Mongamae (gate)

門. 開、間、関、閉

The order of writing hieroglyphs.

Rules for writing graphic elements:

• when drawing a hieroglyph, you need to imagine that you are writing it in a square;
• The hieroglyph must be written from top to bottom and from left to right;
• horizontal lines are written first (always from left to right)
• vertical and inclined are written from top to bottom;
• if a hieroglyph has a central, right and left part, then the central part should be written first
• the enclosing element is written first
• vertical lines crossing the hieroglyph in the center are written last
• When counting features, it is necessary to remember that one feature is taken to be an element written together by hand, and not the printed form of the hieroglyph. For example, in the key “field” 田 there are not 6 strokes, but 5, since the top and right walls are written in one movement.

List of hieroglyphic keys.

1. 一(いち) one
   2. 丨 (ぼう) rod, rod
   3. 丶 (てん) dot
   4. 丿 ​​(てん) NO-kana
   5. 乙 (おつ) fish hook
   6. 亅 (はねぼう) thorn, thorn, mustache

1. 二(に) two
   8. 亠 (なべぶた) cover
   9. 人 (ひと) person
   10. 儿 (にんにょう) human legs
   11. 入 (いる) to enter
   12. 八 (はちがしら) eight
   13. 冂 (まきがまえ) showcase, counter
   14. 冖 (わかんむり) crown
   15. 冫 (にすい) water drops
   16. 几 (つくえ) table
   17. 凵 (うけばこ) open box
   18. 刀 (かたな) sword
   19. 力 (ちから) strength
   20. 勹 (つつみがまえ) to wrap, to wrap
   21. 匕 (さじのひ) spoon
   22. 匚 (はこがまえ) box with an open side
   23. 匸 (かくしがまえ) hide
   24. 十 (じゅう) cross
   25. 卜 (ぼくのと) magic wand
   26. 卩 (ふしづくり) seal
   27. 厂 (がんだれ) cliff
   28. 厶 (む) I
   29. 又 (また) in addition, in this case

1. 口(くち) mouth
   31. 囗 (くにがまえ) box
   32. 土 (つち) earth, soil
   33. 士 (さむらい) samurai
   34. 夂 (ふゆがしら) winter, start
   35. 夊 (すい) to drag one's feet
   36. 夕 (ゆうべ) evening
   37. 大 (だい) big
   38. 女 (おんな)woman
   39. 子 (こ) child
   40. 宀 (うかんむり) crown
   41. 寸 (すん) glue
   42. 小 (ちいさい) small
   43. 尢 (まげあし) curved “big”
   44. 尸 (しかばね) flag
   45. 屮 (てつ) old grass
   46. ​​山 (やま) mountain
   47. 巛 (まがりがわ) curved “river”
   48. 工 (たくみ) skill, worker
   49. 己 (おのれ) snake
   50. 巾 (はば) clothes
   51. 干 (はす) dry
   52. 幺 (いとがしら) short thread
   53. 广 (まだれ) cliff with a dot
   54. 廴 (いんにょう) wide step
   55. 廾 (にじゅうあし) twenty
   56. 弋 (しきがまえ) ceremony
   57. 弓 (ゆみ) bow (weapon)
   58. ヨ (けいがしら) pig's head
   59. 彡 (さんづくり) bun
   60. 彳 (ぎょうにんべん) walking person

1. 心(りっしんべん) heart
   62. 戈 (かのほこ) halberd
   63. 戸 (とびらのと) door
   64. 手 (て) hand
   65. 支 (しんよう) branch
   66. 攴 (ぼくづくり) folding chair
   67. 文 (ぶんにょう) sentence, phrase
   68. 斗 (とます) ladle, scoop
   69. 斤 (おの) ax
   70. 方 (ほう) side, direction
   71. 无 (むにょう) curved “paradise”
   72. 日 (にち) sun
   73. 曰 (にち) flat sun
   74. 月 (つき) moon
   75. 木 (き) tree
   76. 欠 (あくび) gap, space
   77. 止 (とめる) stop
   78. 歹 (がつへん) death
   79. 殳 (ほこつくり) windy again
   80. 毋 (なかれ) mother
   81. 比 (くらべるひ) running race
   82. 毛 (け) wool
   83. 氏 (うじ) clan
   84. 气 (きがまえ) spirit
   85. 水 (みず) water
   86. 火 (ひ) fire
   87. 爪 (つめ) claw
   88. 父 (ちち) father
   89. 爻 (めめ) double X
   90. 爿 (しょうへん) left-handed “stencil”
   91. 片 (かた) one-sided stencil
   92. 牙 (きばへん) fang
   93. 牛 (うし) cow
   94. 犬 (いぬ) dog
   96. 王 (おう) king

1. 玄(げん) mysterious
   96. 玉 (うし) jewel
   97. 瓜 (うり) watermelon
   98. 瓦 (かわら) tiles
   99. 甘 (あまい) sweet
   100.生 (うまれる) life
   101. 用 (もちいる) use
   102. 田 (た) rice field
   103. 疋 (ひき) strength
   104. 疔 (やまいだれ) disease
   105. 癶 (はつがしら) “tent” with dots
   106. 白 (しろ) white
   107. 皮 (けがわ) hide
   108. 皿 (さら) plate
   109. 目 (め) eye
   110. 矛 (むのほこ) halberd
   111. 矢 (や) arrow
   112. 石 (いし) stone
   113. 示 (しめす) show, indicate
   114. 禹 (うのあし) MU in a box
   115. 禾 (のぎ) tree with two branches
   116. 穴 (あな) gap, cut
   117. 立 (たつ) stand

1. 竹(たけ) bamboo
   119. 米 (こめ) rice
   120. 糸 (いと) thread
   121. 缶 (ほとぎ) can, watering can
   122. 网 (あみがしら) network
   123. 羊 (ひつじ) sheep
   124. 羽 (はね) feathers
   125. 老 (おい) old man
   126. 而 (しかして) rake
   127. 耒 (らいすき) tree with three branches
   128. 耳 (みみ) ear
   129. 聿 (ふでづくり) writing brush
   130. 肉 (にく) meat
   131. 臣 (しん) vassal
   132. 自 (みずから) yourself
   133. 至 (いたる) highest point, culmination
   134. 臼 (うす) mortar
   135. 舌 (した) language
   136. 舛 (ます) dance
   137. 舟 (ふね) ship
   138. 艮 (うしとら) good
   139. 色 (いろ) color
   140. 艸 (くさ) grass
   141. 虍 (とらかんむり) tiger
   142. 虫 (むし) insect
   143. 血 (ち) blood
   144. 行 (ぎょう) go
   145. 衣 (ころも) clothes
   146. 襾 (にし) west

1. 見(みる) see
   148. 角 (つの) corner, horn
   149. 言 (ことば) speak
   150. 谷 (たに) valley
   151. 豆 (まめ) bean
   152. 豕 (いのこ) pig
   153. 豸 (むじな) badger
   154. 貝 (かい) sea shell
   155. 赤 (あか) red
   156. 走 (はしる) to run
   157. 足 (あし) leg
   158. 身 (み) body
   159. 車 (くるま) wheel
   160. 辛 (からい) spicy
   161. 辰 (しんのたつ) dragon
   162. 辷 (しんにゅう) road
   163. 邑 (むら) village
   164. 酉 (ひよみのとり) sake
   165. 釆 (のごめ) dice
   166. 里 (さと) village

1. 金(かね) metal
   168. 長 (ながい) long
   169. 門 (もん) gate
   170. 阜 (ぎふのふ) village
   171. 隶 (れいづくり) slave
   172. 隹 (ふるとり) old bird
   173. 雨 (あめ) rain
   174. 青 (あう) green, blue
   175. 非 (あらず) injustice

1. 面(めん) surface
   177. 革 (かくのかわ) leather
   178. 韋 (なめしがわ) burnt skin
   179. 韭 (にら) leek
   180. 音 (おと) sound
   181. 頁 (おおがい) head
   182. 風 (かぜ) wind
   183. 飛 (とぶ) to fly
   184. 食 (しよく) food
   185. 首 (くび) neck
   186. 香 (においこう) smell

1. 馬(うま) horse
   188. 骨 (ほね) bone
   189. 高 (たかい) high
   190. 髟 (かみがしら) long hair
   191. 鬥 (とうがまえ) broken gate
   192. 鬯 (ちよう) aromatic herbs
   193. 鬲 (かく) tripod
   194. 鬼 (おに) demon

1. 魚(うお) fish
   196. 鳥 (とり) bird
   197. 鹵 (ろ) salt
   198. 鹿 (しか) deer
   199. 麥 (むぎ) wheat
   200. 麻 (あさ) flax

1. 黄(きいろ) yellow
   202. 黍 (きび) millet
   203. 黒 (くろ) black
   204. 黹 (ふつ) sew
   205. 黽 (べん) green frog
   206. 鼎 (かなえ) teapot with three legs
   207. 鼓 (つづみ) ​​drumming
   208. 鼠 (ねずみ) mouse

1. 鼻(はな) nose
   210. 齊 (せい) equal

1. 齒(は)tooth

1. 龍(りゅう) dragon
   213. 龜 (かめ) turtle

1. 龠(やく) flute

How to learn all these Japanese characters keys? We invite you to familiarize yourself with ours, and our main course will help you consolidate your knowledge.

There is a strong belief that learning Chinese is extremely difficult or almost impossible. However, most linguists and specialists specializing in China agree that for full communication, reading major newspapers and even many books, knowledge of only 3,000 characters is enough.

Each Chinese character is a separate syllable that can be pronounced in one of five keys. It is the tones of the Chinese language that pose the greatest difficulty for learning, because, as a rule, there are no analogues in the native language. Nevertheless, after a certain, sometimes short, practice, depending on the student’s hearing, there comes a time when the tones begin to differ by ear. To write Chinese syllables taking into account tones, there is a Pinyin system based on the Latin alphabet.

First tone- pronounced high and evenly, like the squeak of Morse code. Indicated by a straight line above the letter mā or simply ma1.

Second tone- ascending from medium to high level, sounds like a peculiar question. Denoted má or ma2.

Third tone- low decreasing, and then rising to a medium level. The tone is more reminiscent of the Russian interjection “Well then!?” Designated mă or ma3.

Fourth tone- falling from high to low, sounds like a kind of statement. Denoted mà or ma4.

Syllable without tone- is not indicated in any way and is pronounced without tonality.

But the specificity of China and its inhabitants is such that the standard pronunciation of syllables is not widespread everywhere, and even if you travel 500 kilometers to another point in the country or communicate with a representative of Chinese nationality anywhere in the world, you risk being misunderstood. That is why the hieroglyphic notation for the Chinese plays the same important meaning, both within the country and outside its borders, as any language of international communication widespread in the world plays for people from other countries.

To learn Chinese, you need to know 214 key hieroglyphic characters, according to which Chinese and Japanese characters are most often located in dictionaries. These 214 keys will help you easily navigate new and unfamiliar hieroglyphs, quickly find their meaning in dictionaries and reference books, and even approximately guess the meaning and pronunciation of hieroglyphs.

Key signs relate to the following areas of knowledge:

• Inanimate nature and natural phenomena
• Plants
• Animal world
• Man and his actions
• Body parts
• Work and household items

Several key hieroglyphs.

Let's figure out what they consist of. Traits and Chinese characters keys- the main components of hieroglyphs that will help you uncover the secret of this mysterious writing.

Features of Chinese characters

Take a closer look at the hieroglyphs: 如何写象形文字.

Each hieroglyph consists of separate lines, which are called features. The number of traits in hieroglyphs can be from one to 20-30. For example, the hieroglyph 一 - yī - one consists of one horizontal line.

But there are record-breaking hieroglyphs for the number of features. For example, a hieroglyph consisting of 84 strokes means “the sight of a dragon in flight.” It is composed of three hieroglyphs for "cloud", and three hieroglyphs for "dragon".

Each line is written in a certain direction - from top to bottom and/or from left to right.

There are several main features (see picture).

When several strokes are written together (without lifting the pen from the paper), complex strokes are obtained, which are called ligatures.

Ligatures can begin with horizontal or other strokes. When counting strokes in a hieroglyph, a ligature is counted as one stroke. Below are tables of ligatures.

Now you can distinguish individual features in each character: 如何写象形文字.

Graphemes and keys of Chinese characters

There is one more element of the hieroglyph - grapheme. A grapheme is a kind of mini-hieroglyph. A grapheme can itself be an independent hieroglyph (but not always), or it can be part of a hieroglyph. Example - 妈 = 女 + 马.

There are graphemes- keys- these are graphemes that are associated with the meaning of the hieroglyph. The rest of the hieroglyph is called phonetician- that is, determining the sound.

So, the hieroglyph consists of graphemes and individual strokes.

You also need to take into account that there are traditional characters (valid in Taiwan, Korea), and simplified ones (valid in the PRC).

For traditional hieroglyphs, a table of 214 keys is usually provided. For simplified ones, tables of 170-180 keys were compiled.

You can download for yourself a table of 214 hieroglyphs (the table consists of 2 parts).

Key table (continued)

There are no simple languages; each language has its own complexities and features. But it is still possible to identify a number of languages ​​that are very difficult to learn. The Chinese language is one of these.

The first thing that scares beginners learning Chinese is the huge number of characters. For example, the Zhonghua Zihai dictionary contains more than 85 thousand. Incredible!

In fact, it is impossible to answer how many characters Chinese writing contains, since it depends on what is considered to be them. If you use the method used in China, then their number is potentially endless.

So how many symbols do you need to know in order to feel comfortable in the Chinese environment, that is, read signs on the streets, newspapers, and Internet pages?

Statistical studies say that there are 3000 most common hieroglyphs, knowledge will help you understand 99.2% of the text. This is of course much less than 85 thousand, but still a lot. But what’s interesting is that confident knowledge of just 100 characters gives an understanding of as much as 42% of the text. Here are the statistics:

100 characters → 42% understanding
200 characters → 55% understanding
500 characters → 75% understanding
1000 characters → 89% understanding
1500 characters → 94% understanding
2000 characters → 97.0% understanding
3000 characters → 99.2% understanding

Chinese culture is permeated with the spirit of mysticism and mystery, and looking at these mysterious signs of Chinese writing, all self-confidence is lost.

But don’t despair, we have selected 30 of the easiest hieroglyphs to remember, which will be our starting point on such a winding path.

The characters below have the fewest strokes. They are easy to learn as they are mostly intuitive.

So let's get started.

30 Easiest Chinese Characters to Learn

1. 一 this horizontal line means the number one. Accordingly, the number two is two strokes 二 and three is 三. Pretty simple, isn't it?

For example, "one person" in Chinese would be 一个人.

2. 人 – these two simple strokes mean a person and resemble a person with legs spread wide apart. If we place these two characters together - 人人 we get - “everyone” or “everyone”, for example, 人人都爱喝可乐 will mean - everyone likes to drink cola.

3.日 this rectangle with a line in the middle is nothing other than the Sun. Of course, you need to have a remarkable imagination to be able to tie this symbol to our luminary, but in ancient times this hieroglyph was more round.

Once upon a time it was a circle with a small line in the middle, which transformed over time.

By the way, 日 can also mean the word “day”. If you put these characters 日日 in a row, it means “every day.”

4.月 – this character means the Moon. In ancient times, this hieroglyph really closely resembled the satellite of our Earth and looked like a crescent. This hieroglyph also means “month”, for example, 1月 will be January, and the first of January will be 1月1日

5. 水 – water, liquid, river, sea, stream. Some say that in ancient times it was a pattern of a river flow between banks or boulders, and some say that it was a pattern of water ripples.

If we use the character that we have already learned (一), then we can write “one glass of water” 一杯水

6. 山 – mountains. It also means a mountain range, hill, grave or mound. This symbol is also easy to remember - the bottom line symbolizes the earth, the vertical lines symbolize mountain peaks of different heights. If you combine this sign with other hieroglyphs, you can get many other concepts, for example, in combination with the hieroglyph 水 (water) we get 山水 (landscape), and 山水画 will mean “landscape” painting. 画 is indeed a small picture in a frame. This character 水 is found in many characters.

7. 大 – the Chinese character for “big” looks like a person with arms and legs spread wide apart. In ancient times, this was a drawing of a large, strong man.

If we write 人 (person) next to 大, then we get 大人 “adult”, literally a big person. This hieroglyph can also mean huge, large, strong, senior, great, respected, etc.

8. 小 – small. Also used in the meaning - small, young, junior, simple, etc.

Please note that 小 refers to size only. When we talk about small amounts, we say 少

9. 口 - mouth. As you might guess, this hieroglyph means a person’s open mouth. However, it has many meanings: lips, hole, neck (of bottles), mouth, harbor, hole, words, speech and many others.

This symbol can often be found in combination with other signs, for example,

大口 (dà kǒu) big gulp
出口 - exit
人口 - population
山口 - mountain pass
口岸 - “mouth” and “shore” = port, commercial port
口才 - “mouth” and “talent” = eloquence, the gift of beautiful speech, the gift of speaking.
口红 - “mouth” and “red” = lipstick

So, as in Russian, 口 (mouth) can denote a family member, for example, 一家三口人 translated as “a family of three mouths of people.”

It is interesting that the sign “fence” is depicted in the same way as “mouth”, but is not used independently, only around the remaining elements of the hieroglyph:

国 - country, state
回 - mouth in the fence = return
回国 - return to homeland

10. 火 – fire. A very simple hieroglyph, if you look closely it looks like a running man waving his arms in a panic and shouting: “Help, there’s a fire!”

In ancient times, this symbol was more like a fire flower.

Here are some ways to use this symbol:

大火 big flame and 小火 small flame, 山火 forest fire, 火山 – volcano. In astronomy, this symbol is used to designate the planet Mars.

11. 男 – man. It is actually a combination of two characters: 田 (field) and 力 (power). This symbol can be seen on the doors of men's restrooms.

person
男友 guy, friend

12. 女 – woman.

Chinese cartoonist Tan Huay Peng wrote in his book Fun with Chinese Characters:
“The ancient pictogram depicted a woman bowing, then, for ease of writing, she was brought to her knees, but not for long. The modern hieroglyph depicts a woman walking broadly and freely along with a man.”

美女 - beauty
少女 – girl
女工 - female worker
女士 - mistress, lady, madam
女王 - queen
女主人 - hostess

13. 天 – sky.


This hieroglyph looks like a man with legs and arms spread wide apart, and on the bottom there is a horizontal line indicating the sky. In ancient China, the Emperor was called the son of heaven, and talented people were called people with heavenly gifts.

This hieroglyph is also used to mean “day”. If we put two such characters 天天 next to each other, we get “every day.”

春天 - spring
夏天 - summer
秋天 - autumn
冬天 - winter
今天 - today
昨天 - yesterday
明天 – tomorrow

14. 牛 – cow or cattle. It can also mean: cattle, bull, buffalo, ox, beef. Initially they drew the animal's face, its horns and ears, but later the similarity was lost.

一头牛 - one cow
小牛 – calf
牛奶 – milk
牛肉 – beef
牛油 - butter
牛仔 – shepherd

15. 马 – horse. This is a simplified character, in traditional writing it looks like 馬

马上 - immediately
人马 – army, army (men and horses)
妈 – mother (woman and horse)

16. 羊 – ram, sheep or small cattle. This hieroglyph carries a favorable meaning, since in Chinese culture a ram is a good animal. 羊 is part of the character for “kindness”. Goat is denoted by the same hieroglyph.

山羊 – mountain goat

17. 木 - wood as a plant and wood as a material. Initially, the drawing depicted a trunk, roots and branches.

果木 - fruit tree
木星 – Jupiter (planet)

18. 工 – work, labor. There are several versions of the origin of this sign, one of which is the horizontal features - earth and sky, the vertical - man.

工作 - work
工人 - worker
木工 – joiner, carpenter

19. 开 – open, can also mean “to begin.”

开刀 - surgery
开工 - start working
开口 - to speak

20. 心 – heart. In ancient times it was a fairly accurate schematic drawing of a human heart; the modern sign has changed beyond recognition.

The “heart” pictogram is part of many hieroglyphs associated with spiritual qualities and the inner world of a person.

For example, the hieroglyph “thought” consists of two parts “sound” and “heart”: that is, “the voice in the heart.” And the hieroglyph “think” consists of “appearance, face” and “heart”.

The hieroglyph 心 is also used in the meanings: soul, spirit
chest, chest cavity
mind, intellect, reason, thought
desires, intentions, moods
center, middle, core
will, determination, aspiration
有心人 purposeful person
江心 middle of the river

21. 门 – door. There should be no problems remembering this hieroglyph, since it looks like a doorway.

开门 - open the door

22. 不 – no. Although this symbol means "no", it is not usually used on its own. Mostly they write 不是 – “no” or 不好 – “bad”.

不少 literally translates as “not a little”, or in other words “a lot”.

23. 十 – ten. An ancient drawing depicted the cardinal directions. The number ten symbolizes the ten-sided world, which in Buddhism means the four main cardinal directions, the four directions between them, as well as the direction up and down.

In modern Chinese, 十 is used to mean “ten, tenfold, tenfold,” etc., as well as “many, all.”
十一 eleven
twelve
thirteen
十四 fourteen
fifteen

20 is 二十 or “two tens”, 30 is 三十 “three tens”, 50 is 五十 and so on until you reach 90 九十.

But 100 is not “ten tens”, it’s just 一百 (one hundred).

In China, hieroglyphs of numbers are rarely used, more often Arabic numerals. Price tags in stores are usually written in Arabic numerals. But in provincial cities, and especially in small settlements, hieroglyphs can be used.

24. 手 – hand. Initially, this hieroglyph depicted lines on the palm; over time, these lines on the sign aligned.

Nowadays, the character 手 is used in the meanings: “arm, arms, hand, palm, helping hand, help”, “skill, skill, technique, art”, “master, doka, craftsman”, etc.

craft
一手 alone, alone
sailor

25. 王 – king, king, emperor, monarch. The character consists of three parts: 十 (number ten) and two horizontal lines above and below 一, meaning heaven and earth.

王子 – prince
王民 - subjects

26. 米 – fig. As we know, rice is a staple food. Often located in various parts of complex hieroglyphs. It is very similar to the sign 木 (tree), but in fact the ancient pictogram denoting rice was completely different and only over time it transformed and became similar to the hieroglyph “tree”.

玉米 (yù mǐ) corn
白米 (bái mǐ) white rice or refined rice for eating

27. 生 - birth

生日 - birthday
一生 - all your life
先生 - master; For example, 王先生 Mr. Wang
生命 – life

28. 中 – center. This is an important character because it is part of the word China.

中国 - China; literally means “central kingdom”

中文 - Chinese
中午 – noon

29. 上 – up or previous. Originally it was a horizontal line with a dot above it. Over time, this point stretched into a line, later it became vertical. 爱上 – fall in love

晚上 - in the evening
早上 - in the morning

30. 下 – down. This simple symbol looks like a down arrow, similar to the inverted character 上 (up). Also refers to “I’m leaving” or “I’m going out.”

下班 - to leave work
下课 - leave the class
下车 - get out of the car

Here is a list of simple Chinese characters to get you started on your language journey. We wish you the best of luck on your Chinese study journey.

“Hieroglyphs?!? Oh no! How can you even remember them? Chinese is not for me!” Olga.

We constantly receive feedback like this from our readers.

Here's another example: “All my life I wanted to learn Chinese, but I remember the hieroglyphs very poorly […] I gave up everything...” Alexey L.

It's incredibly sad when people give up on their dreams simply because they encounter difficulties that seem insurmountable to them.

Do you have such thoughts? If yes, then be sure to read on!

Is it possible to easily learn and memorize hieroglyphs?

Yes, I don’t argue, hieroglyphs are one of the biggest stumbling blocks in mastering Chinese. But think about it: More than a billion Chinese were able to master them. They use them every day! And believe me, not all of them are brilliant. If they could do it, you definitely can!

I have 2 news for you: one is good, the other is also good.

1. If you use the right approach, Chinese writing will no longer seem so inaccessible. Main understand the basic principles: how hieroglyphs are constructed, where they get their meaning and how they are pronounced. Once you figure this out, half the battle is done.

2. The more hieroglyphs you know, the easier it will be to remember new ones.

Where to start?

Ideally, learn the principles of hieroglyphics and at the same time gain vocabulary.

And today we will study the first principle on the basis of which many basic hieroglyphs were formed: the “Picture Principle”. According to him, the hieroglyph is as similar as possible to the object it depicts.

And to illustrate this principle, today we will study with you 10 simplest Chinese characters.

They are easy to remember and learn to write, and most importantly, they will often appear in various Chinese texts and will help you master even more characters in the future.

1. 一 yī

What does it mean: This is without a doubt the simplest character in the Chinese language. It is not difficult to guess that it means the number “one”.

How to remember: The logic in this hieroglyph is obvious: the Chinese put one stick on the ground, which means one.

Let’s add two more obvious hieroglyphs here:

Two sticks are two 二 èr;

Three sticks are three 三 sān.

Example: Of course, hieroglyphs themselves are useless to us if we do not know how to use them. So let's immediately make up a couple of words and expressions and start talking a little.

十一 shí yī eleven (ten + one);

十三 shí sān thirteen;

二十 èr shí twenty (two tens);

我要一个。wǒ yào yī gè I want one piece (use while shopping).

2. ren

What does it mean: This hieroglyph means Human.

How to remember: Imagine that a head is drawn above the hieroglyph, and add 2 feet to the legs, and voila, you have a person.

How to write: First write a line to the left, and then from its center to the right. Remember that we write all hieroglyphs from top to bottom.

Example:

Just one person.

What about? tā shì shénme rén – who is he?

3. 入 rù

What does it mean: Very similar to human 人, but in no case should they be confused. 入 rù means enter.

How to remember: This hieroglyph originally had the meaning “outside - in” and depicted the tip of a knife or arrow blade that pierced or ENTERED into some object.

How to write: First, write a small line to the left, and then, starting a little higher, write a line to the right. We write from top to bottom.

Example:

入口 rùkǒu entrance;

It is important to go to university.

4. 日rì

What does it mean: This is the sun. And when we see the sun, what time of day is it? That's right, day. So this is Sun or day.

How to remember: There were times when this hieroglyph was written as a circle, with a dot in the center. With the development of writing, it acquired a modern appearance and ceased to be so obvious. And yet, we look at the square with a line and see the solar disk with a halo around it.

How to write: First we write the left vertical line from top to bottom. Then the top and right line from left to right and down without lifting your hand. Last we write horizontal lines in the center and below. Both strokes are written from left to right.

Example:

一月一日 yī yuè yī rì the first of January (the first day of the month).

By the way, what will it be like on the third of March?

5. 山 shān

What does it mean: in its shape this hieroglyph is also similar to what it means: mountain.

How to remember: On the horizon we see three mountain peaks.

How to write: First write a short left stroke from top to bottom and continue it down to the right. Then write the highest line in the middle and the right line a little lower. All vertical strokes are written from top to bottom.

Example:

山口 shānkǒu pass, entrance to the gorge;

上山 shàng shān to climb the mountains.

6. 口 kǒu

What does it mean: This hieroglyph has different meanings, the most common are mouth And entrance.

How to remember: A very simple hieroglyph - like many basic hieroglyphs, it was a direct image of an object, so it is easy to remember. We look at the square and see an open mouth.

How to write: Same as 日 rì, but without the middle line. By the way, a little check, what is 日？

Example:

大口 dà kǒu big mouth, large-mouthed;

出口 chū kǒu exit. By the way, remember what “entrance” is? – 入口;

人口 rén kǒu population.

7. 中 zhōng

What does it mean: This is a hieroglyph center, inside, middle.

How to remember: Its value is indicated by a line that is located exactly in the center.

How to write: Same as 口 kǒu, only more rectangular in shape. Why add a middle line from top to bottom.

Example:

中午 zhōngwǔ noon (middle of the day);

中国人 zhōng guó rén Chinese (a person from the middle state, i.e. from China);

中医 Chinese medicine.

8. 火 hǔo

What does it mean: You might think that this is a man waving his arms? But no, it's fire.

How to remember: Do you remember what a fire looks like made from small logs and with flames flying upward? Now look at this hieroglyph - one to one!

How to write: First the left, then the right “tongues of flame”, and then like 人 rén.

Example:

大火 dà hǔo fire;

火山 hǔo shān volcano;

火车 hǔo chē train (fire carriage).

9. 女nǚ

What does it mean: This woman.

How to remember: Initially, a woman was depicted kneeling. Now we can see in this hieroglyph a head, arms, two legs and a graceful “back” part.

How to write: This hieroglyph has 3 lines: the first line from the head smoothly transitions to the leg to the right, then we write the second leg to the left. And finally, hands - from left to right.

Example:

女人 nǚ rén woman;

女厕所 nǚ cèsuŏ women's toilet.

10. 门 men

What does it mean: This door.

How to remember: This character, especially in the traditional spelling 門, is very similar to the doorway in old Chinese houses. If you don’t know what doors looked like in China, then remember the doors to saloons in cowboy films.

And this hieroglyph often becomes a phonetic, i.e. helps us learn the reading of the hieroglyph without looking in the dictionary (but we’ll talk about this in more detail another time).

How to write: first a small line-dot in the upper left corner, then a vertical line down from it, and finally a third line - horizontally and down, without lifting your hand.

Example:

门口 mén kǒu entrance, exit, gate;

开门 kāi men open the door;

入门 rù mén to enter the door (and can also be used in a figurative meaning: to make a beginning, to make an initiative).

Happy practice!

Svetlana Khludneva

P.S. Take care of yourself!