Let's see what they are made of. Traits and keys Chinese characters - the main components of hieroglyphs that will help you unravel the mystery of this mysterious script.

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 traits. The number of lines in hieroglyphs can be from one to 20-30 pieces. For example, the character 一 - yī - one consists of one horizontal line.

But there are hieroglyphs-record holders for the number of features. For example, a hieroglyph consisting of 84 lines means "a kind of dragon in flight." It is composed of three hieroglyphs for "cloud", and three hieroglyphs for "dragon".

Each stroke is written in a certain direction - from top to bottom or (and) from left to right.

In total there are several main features (see figure).

When several lines are written together (without taking the pen off the paper), complex lines are obtained, which are called ligatures.

Ligatures may begin with horizontal or other strokes. When counting strokes in a character, the ligature is counted as one stroke. Below are the 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 another 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. An example is 妈 = 女 + 马.

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

So, the hieroglyph consists of graphemes and individual features.

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

For traditional characters, a table of 214 keys is usually given. 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).

Keymap (continued)

It's time to talk about the role of keys in Chinese. You have probably heard more than once that in Chinese there is a certain table of keys. In this article, we will tell you about the keys and the keymap, what it consists of and how to make the keymap your assistant in learning. Chinese.

Keys in Chinese are the elements that make up the character. Each of them consists of one or more features, having its own name, number and introducing the corresponding meaning into the word.

For example:

Key: 火huǒ - fire

火灾 huǒzāi – fire

烤 kǎo – to fry

Please note that the keys can be used as an independent hieroglyph, as in the word "fire", or be its component, as in the word "fry".

The key table is where the Chinese language keys are collected. At the moment, the most common table, which includes 214 keys.


All keys are arranged in ascending order of features, from the simplest to the most complex. In the center is the key itself, below it is its meaning. In the upper left corner you can see its number and name. On the right is the number of strokes and other possible variations of this key in hieroglyphs.

How to make a table your assistant in learning Chinese?

Knowing the keys can make learning Chinese much easier.

    • With the help of keys, you can quickly find hieroglyphs in the dictionary

Do not forget that Chinese is a special language, without an alphabet, but with hieroglyphs. Respectively, Chinese dictionaries also differ from the usual, built on the first letters of the word: they are built on the keys. That is, if you want to know the translation of a word, then you need to enter words in Pinyin, or find the desired key that is part of this hieroglyph.

  • Using the keys, you can guess the meaning of the word and, accordingly, quickly remember it, which is very important in learning a language.

I think everything is clear here. Here is an example:

Key: 水 shuǐ - water

Possible variations: 氵氺

Words: 海 - sea, 冰 [bīng] - ice, 洗 - wash, wash, 湿润 - wet

As you can see, in all words there is a key "water" in one of the variations.

Here are some more examples:

Key: 人 - person

Variations: 亻

Words: 男人 - man, 作家 - writer, 你 - you

Key: 手 - hand

Variations: 扌龵

Words: 拿 - take, 手机 - telephone, 看 - look

By the way, the last word has a very curious origin. From above, as you noticed, the key 手 is “hand”, and below the key 目 is “eye”. And this hieroglyph appeared something like this:

A few more words about the key table in the end ....

Based own experience, we can say that the key table is the same as the alphabet (figuratively) in Chinese. Of course, having studied the table, you will not be able to read all the hieroglyphs and understand their exact meaning. But, you will be able to guess the meaning of the word, it is easier to remember its spelling, and it is easier to remember how it is spelled after some time.

214 keys is not a large number of, but not small either. To learn all the keys more efficiently and quickly, try breaking them down by topic.

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 word you are looking for by initial letters. We cannot do this with Japanese words because of the character 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 obligatory minimum of hieroglyphs that you need to know for life in Japan includes 2136 kanji. At first glance, it may seem that hieroglyphs are a chaotic set of sticks and dashes, the order of which can only be remembered by an exceptional mind. In fact, everything is not so scary. Each, even the most unimaginable hieroglyph, can be decomposed into several simple characters. Such simple characters will be the keys, or in Japanese 部首bushyu. That is, the key is a graphic sign that helps to classify and find the character in the dictionary.

Some keys, also called radicals, can be independent characters, such as the keys for "man" 人, "heart" 心, or "hand" 手. Sometimes knowing the meaning of the keys helps memorize the meaning of the kanji. For example, the character 休, which means "rest", "rest", consists of the keys "man" and "tree". While working in the field, people rest (where?) under a tree. Or another example - the character for "cheap" 安 consists of the elements "woman" and "roof". Women under the roof is 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, one can guess what area this character may be from. For example, hieroglyphs 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 the Chinese character was assigned to the Japanese word “just like that”, meaninglessly, the Japanese also “invented” 70 of their own characters, so it’s still better to clarify the meanings of kanji in the dictionary.

There are 214 keys in total, which are located in the key table. Each key is assigned its own room. Many 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 clues in unfamiliar kanji and count strokes.

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

Keys are divided into strong and weak. If an element is always or almost always a key, then it is a strong key (eg "fire" 火), and weak keys are often not keys　 (eg "inch" 寸).

Rules for determining the key in the hieroglyph.

When looking for a character, the most important thing is to determine which element is the key. For this, there are some recommendations:

1) First you need to make sure that the character itself is not a key by counting the features. And if kanji is not the key, then you can safely proceed to the following points.

2) If a complex character consists of two elements, one of which is on the right and the other on the left, then, most likely, the left element will be the key. 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 enclosing element is more often the key.

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

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

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

How are the keys in hieroglyphs.

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

Nin-ben (person)

亻. 仕、休、代、住、体、作、何、伝

Tsuti-ben (earth)

土. 地、場、塩、増

Onna-hen (female)

女. 妹、姉、姫、娘、婚、嫁

Gyōnin - ben (walking person)

彳. 役、彼、待、後、徒、得、復

Rissin-ben (heart)

忄. 情、快、怖、性

Te-hen (arm)

扌. 打、持、指、払

Ki-hen (wood)

木. 村、材、松、林、校

Tsukuri

刀. 刊、判、別、利、副

Akubi (gap)

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 (grass)

艹. 花、若、英、茶、草

Ashi

Hitoashi (human legs)

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 dot)

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

List of hieroglyphic keys.

  1. 一(いち) one
    2. 丨 (ぼう) wand, 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) drops of water
    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
    21. 匕 (さじのひ) spoon
    22. 匚 (はこがまえ) open-sided box
    23. 匸 (かくしがまえ) to 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, while
  1. 口 (くち) mouth
    31. 囗 (くにがまえ) box
    32. 土 (つち) earth
    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) large
    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) clothing
    51. 干 (はす) dry
    52. 幺 (いとがしら) short thread
    53. 广 (まだれ) dotted cliff
    54. 廴 (いんにょう) wide stride
    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) head of a pig
    59. 彡 (さんづくり) beam
    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
    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
    77. 止 (とめる) to 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-sided "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) roof tiles
    99. 甘 (あまい) sweet
    100.生 (うまれる) life
    101. 用 (もちいる) to use
    102. 田 (た) rice field
    103. 疋 (ひき) number
    104. 疔 (やまいだれ) disease
    105. 癶 (はつがしら) dotted tent
    106. 白 (しろ) white
    107. 皮 (けがわ) to 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) to point out
    114. 禹 (うのあし) MU in a box
    115. 禾 (のぎ) tree with two branches
    116. 穴 (あな) slit
    117. 立 (たつ) to 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 person
    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) oneself
    133. 至 (いたる) high point, climax
    134. 臼 (うす) mortar
    135. 舌 (した) language
    136. 舛 (ます) to 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) to go
    145. 衣 (ころも) clothing
    146. 襾 (にし) west
  1. 見(みる) to see
    148. 角 (つの) angle, horn
    149. 言 (ことば) to 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) tall
    190. 髟 (かみがしら) long hair
    191. 鬥 (とうがまえ) broken gate
    192. 鬯 (ちよう) fragrant 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) linen
  1. 黄(きいろ) yellow
    202. 黍 (きび) millet
    203. 黒 (くろ) black
    204. 黹 (ふつ) to 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 clues of Japanese characters? We invite you to familiarize yourself with ours, and knowledge will help you consolidate our main course.

Structure of hieroglyphs.

According to the method of formation, hieroglyphs are of the following types:
pictographic, ideographic, phonographic.
Pictographic hieroglyphs are the simplest hieroglyphs. In them we can find an echo of the form of the denoting object, for example, 口， 心，日 。

Ideographic characters are made up of two simple characters, such as 信.

Phonographic hieroglyphs consist of a key and a phonetic. The key conveys the distant meaning of the hieroglyph (rather, even the group to which the hieroglyph is related), and the phonetic conveys the sound of the hieroglyph and does not carry a meaning.
Most often, the key is located on the left, above and below the hieroglyph, and the phonetic is on the right, but options are possible.
For example, the character 枝 branch consists of the key "tree" and the phonetic "zhi".
About 80% of Chinese characters are phonographic.
In total, there are 214 keys in Chinese. Knowing them all by heart is completely optional, but it is advisable to remember the most common ones.

List of the most common Chinese character keys:

List of some phonetics:

possible readings: cun
小 possible readings: sun, xiao
每 possible readings: mei
羊 possible readings: yang, xian
银 possible readings: yan, yin, hen, gen.
重 possible readings: tuan, zhong
谁 possible readings: shei, shui, tui

Why do we need to know the main keys and phonetics?
Keys are necessary for at least an approximate understanding of the meaning, which makes it possible to guess the meaning of the word.
We may need phonetics in situations where we need to guess the pronunciation of a word. It may also come in handy when we need to look up a word in the dictionary, but we can't use the search by style. For example, we need to know the meaning of the character: 银. By the key, you can understand that the word has something to do with metal. The phonetic can be read as yan, yin, hen, gen. Looking through these combinations, we can easily find the word 银 - yín silver.

EXERCISES
1) Name the meaning of the key and, accordingly, guess the semantic category of the hieroglyph

  1. 洋

    key is water, value is ocean

  2. 钱

    the key is metal, the meaning is "money"

  3. 惊

    the key is the heart, the meaning is to be afraid

  4. 热

    the key is fire, the meaning is "hot"

  5. 筷

    Key - Bamboo, Meaning - "Chopsticks"

  6. 馆

    key is food, meaning is "restaurant"

  7. 让

    key - speech, meaning - "yield"

2) Guess about the possible pronunciation of the hieroglyph by phonetics:

  1. 跟

    possible phonetic pronunciations: yan, yin, hen, gen. Character pronunciation: gēn

  2. 鲜

    possible phonetic pronunciations: yang, xian. Character pronunciation: xiān

  3. 畽

    possible phonetic pronunciations: tuan, zhong. Character pronunciation: tuǎn

  4. 梅

    possible pronunciations phonetics: mei. Character pronunciation: mei

  5. 脽

    possible phonetic pronunciations: shei, shui, tui. Character pronunciation: tuǐ

  6. 忖

    possible pronunciations phonetics: cun. Character pronunciation: cǔn

  7. 锺

    possible phonetic pronunciations: tuan, zhong. Character pronunciation: zhōng

  8. 洋

    possible phonetic pronunciations: yang, xian. Character pronunciation: yang

  9. 推

    possible phonetic pronunciations: shei, shui, tui. Character pronunciation: tuī

There is a strong opinion that learning Chinese is extremely difficult or almost impossible. Nevertheless, most linguists and experts specializing in China agree that for full communication, reading major newspapers and even many books, knowing just 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 are the most difficult to study, because there are analogues in mother tongue usually not. Nevertheless, after a certain, sometimes short, practice, depending on the hearing of the student, there comes a moment 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 even, like the squeak of a Morse code. Denoted by a straight line above the letter mā or simply ma1.

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

    Third tone- low falling, and then rising to the average level. The tone is more like Russian interjection"Well!?". Denoted mă or ma3.

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

    A syllable without a tone- is not indicated in any way and is pronounced without tonality.

But the specificity of China and its inhabitants is such that the reference pronunciation of syllables is not widespread everywhere, and even after driving 500 kilometers to another point in the country or talking with a representative of Chinese nationality anywhere else in the world, you risk being misunderstood. That is why the hieroglyphic record for the Chinese plays the same importance, both within the country and outside it, which is played by any language of international communication common in the world for people from other countries.

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

Key signs refer to the following areas of knowledge:

Several key hieroglyphs.