| Chinese character (traditional/ simplified) | Pīnyīn (Mandarin pronunciation) | Meaning | Looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 山 | shān | mountain | 3 peaks |
| 人 | rén | person/people/humanity | a creature standing on 2 legs |
| 口 | kŏu | mouth | an open mouth |
| 刀 | dāo | sword/knife | a blade |
| 木 | mù | wood | a tree |
| 日 | rì | sun/day | a sun with a cloud in the middle |
| 月 | yuè | moon/month | same as 日, but in the shape of a crescent |
| 女 | nǚ | woman/girl/female | person with large breasts |
| 子 | zi/zĭ | child | a child wrapped in a blanket |
| 馬 / 马 | mǎ | horse | a horse with a head, a mane, a body, a tail, and 4 legs |
| 鳥 / 鸟 | niǎo | bird | a creature with a head and a wing with feathers |
| 目 | mù | eye | an eye with 2 eyelids |
| 水 | shuǐ | water | three streams of water |
| Simplified | Traditional | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 马 | 馬 | mǎ | horse |
| 鸟 | 鳥 | niǎo | bird |
| 鸡 | 鶏 | jī | chicken |
| 华 | 華 | huá | magnificent / China |
| 国 | 國 | guó | country / nation / state / kingdom |
| 听 | 聽 | tīng | listen / hear |
| 强 | 強 | qiáng | strong |
| 无 | 無 | wǔ | nothing |
| 面 | 麵 | miàn | noodles |
| 话 | 話 | huà | speak / speech / talk |
| 银 | 銀 | yín | silver |
| 饮 | 飮 | yĭn | drink |
| 狗 | 豿 | gŏu | dog |
| 杀 | 殺 | shā | kill |
| 长 | 長 | cháng | long / length |
| 云 | 雲 | yùn | cloud |
| Chinese character (traditional/ simplified) | Pīnyīn (Mandarin pronunciation) | Meaning | Looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | yī | one | 1 line |
| 二 | èr | two | 2 lines |
| 三 | sān | three | 3 lines |
| 大 | dà | big/large/great | a person 人 holding out his/her arms as wide as possible |
| 天 | tiān | heaven/sky/day | like 大, but one line above, so the greatest of the great |
| 小 | xiǎo | little/small | fingers holding onto a needle |
| 上 | shàng | up/above/previous | a plant's stem and leaf above the ground |
| 下 | xià | down/below/next | a plant's roots |
| 本 | běn | root | a tree 木 with its roots showing underground |
| 末 | mò | apex | a tree 木 with one extra line on the top, so the very top |
| Chinese character (traditional/ simplified) | Pīnyīn (Mandarin pronunciation) | Meaning | Looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 明 | míng | bright/light/tomorrow | a sun 日 and a moon 月 next to each other, indicating that tomorrow happens after the sun and moon passes |
| 好 | hǎo | good | a woman 女 and a child 子 next to each other, indicating that a woman with a child is good |
| 休 | xiū | rest | a person 亻(人) next to a tree 木 |
| 林 | lín | woods | two trees 木 next to each other |
| 森 | sēn | forest | three trees 木 next to each other |
| Chinese character (traditional/ simplified) | Rebus word (Mandarin pronunciation) | Original word | New character for the original word |
|---|---|---|---|
| 來/来 | lái "to come" | lai "wheat" | 麥/麦 mài |
| 四 | sì "four" | sī "nostril(s)" | 泗, can also mean "mucus/sniffle" |
| 北 | běi "north" | bèi "back (of the body)" | 背 |
| 要 | yào "to want" | yāo "waist" | 腰 |
| 少 | shǎo "few/little" | shā "sand" | 沙 and 砂 |
| 永 | yŏng "forever/eternity" | yŏng "to swim" | 泳 |
| Chinese character (traditional/ simplified) | Pīnyīn (Mandarin pronunciation) | Meaning | Semantic radical | Phonetic radical (meaning) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 清 | qīng | clear | 氵(水) water | 青 qīng (greenish-blue) |
| 睛 | jīng | eye | 目eye | 青 qīng (greenish-blue) |
| 菜 | cài | vegetable/food dish | 艹 (艸) grass/plant | 采 cǎi (harvest) |
| 沐 | mù | to wash oneself | 氵(水) water | 木 mù (wood) |
| 淋 | lín | to pour | 氵(水) water | 林 lín (woods) |
| 嗎 / 吗 | ma | yes-no question marker (word that ends the sentence of a yes-no question) | 口 mouth (interjections and particles often have this radical) | 馬/马 mǎ (horse) |
- Transformed cognates, zhuan zhu (转注), or characters that used to be different ways of writing other characters, but have later taken on a different meaning.
| Cognate word | Original word | New pronunciation and meaning of cognate word |
|---|---|---|
| 考 | 老 lăo "old" | kào “test, exam” |
I gave one website the feedback that it would be useful to recognize signs such as toilets
and drinking water and not drinking water.
Water you might recognize from wind water, fung shway or feng shui
I put the latter words into google translate and got this
drinking
water
and
not
drinking water
Useful Websites
translate google
About the Author
Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.
Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore.
She has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:
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