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July 19, 2016
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Since whether 门, 文 and 工 are radicals or not depends on the character in which they appear, they cannot immediately convey an idea to the mind. |
July 12, 2016
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If Wei-wei is right, 门, 文 and 工 cannot be the radicals in 们/men (plural), 蚊/wén (mosquito), 虹/hóng (rainbow), 红/hóng (red), 汞/gong (mercury).
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July 5, 2016
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Raised in China, writing in French, Wei-wei claims "all radicals immediately bring ideas to mind, without carrying any phonetics". Is she mistaken?
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June 28, 2016
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时/shí (time) simplifies 時, whose phonetics comes from 寺/sì (temple), itself a phonetic son of 寸/cùn (inch). In 时/shí, 寸 is its own grand-son.
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June 7, 2016
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After a complete phonetic sweep of the Pocket Oxford dictionary, 贝/bèi (money) seems phonetic in 贵/guì (costly) and 贯/guàn (pass through).
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May 31, 2016
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谆/zhūn (earnest) gets its sound from grand-father 子/zǐ (child), not from father 享/xiǎng (to enjoy), whose sounds is from (cf 亮/liàng (bright)).
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May 24, 2016
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In 春/chūn (spring) and 舂/chōng (grind), 𡗗/pěng (folded hands) captured related shapes but also added related sounds to its phonetic descent.
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May 17, 2016
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Dialectal 孬 (bad) is pronounced either huài or nāo. No phonetic link here. huài derives from 不 (not) as in 坏 and 怀, and nāo from 好/hǎo (good).
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May 10, 2016
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Karlgreen: 去/qù (to go) is a pictogram. Harbaugh: its phonetics comes from 厶/sī (private). Code consistency: the latter comes from 土/tǔ (earth).
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May 3, 2016
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Compare the consonant table by C3S versus Chinese phonology experts. They are similar but liquid l is assigned to palatals instead of dentals.
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April 19, 2016
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Isn't 羊 (sheep) also phonetic in 羔/gāo (agneau)? Just follow the gai/gao - zhao (着)/chai (差)/shan (善) - qiang (羟)/xian (鲜)/ yang phonetic path!
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April 12, 2016
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Why has 盖 become a simplified version of 蓋/gài (to cover)? Not for the meaning of 羊/yáng (sheep) nor its shape. It must be for its sound!
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April 5, 2016
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Phonetic in 款/kuǎn (item), 吹/chuī (to blow), 钦/qīn (to respect), is 欠/qiàn (to lack) phonetic in 次/cì (order) too? When to stop is an issue.
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March 29, 2016
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is to 臣 what 亻is to 人. Nor is self standing, but still phonetics in 监/jiān (to supervise), 临/lín (to overlook), 览/lǎn (to look at).
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March 22, 2016
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Despite Harbaugh, 雪/xuě (neige), 彗/huì (broomstick) are closer to 寻/xún (to seek) than 寸/cùn (inch). In sound, not sense, they come from 彐/jì.
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March 15, 2016
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数/shù (number) is phonetically closer to grandfather 女/nǚ (woman) than to father 娄/lóu (a name). Why not admit sound can skip a generation?
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March 8, 2016
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Is 歧/qí (fork) part of the zhi/ji/qi phonetic spread of 支/zhī (to support) or of the zhi/chi/qi spread of 止/zhǐ (to stop)? Why not say yes to both?
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March 1, 2016
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雨/yǔ (rain) is phonetic in 需/xū (to need) (Karlgren). Why not in 霎/shà (instant) and 雪/xuě (snow)? Let 而/ér (but) be phonetic in 儒/rú (scholar)!
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February 23, 2016
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If "no final consonant" is not similar to n as in 点/diǎn v. 贴/tiē, what about 车/jū (chariot) and 军/jūn (army), 析/xī (to split) and 昕/xīn (dawn)?
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February 16, 2016
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Similar initials (佥/qiān, 剑/jiàn, 脸/liǎn), vowels (说/shuō, 税/shuì,阅/yuè), finals (站/zhàn, 砧/zhēn, 点/diǎn, 贴/tiē), all can carry phonetic descent.
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February 9, 2016
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In 类/lèi (class) and 粦/lìn (phosphorus), the phonetic marker seems to be 米/mǐ (rice). In 娄/lóu (a name), it is more likely to be 女/nǚ (woman).
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January 26, 2016
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Abbreviated radicals seldom play a phonetic role. Yet, as刂/dāo is phonetic in 到/dào (to arrive), so 亻/rén must be in 仁/rén (benevolence).
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January 19, 2016
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While derivation works top down, links can be created bottom up by attraction. Let 西/xī (West) be phonetic in 栖/qī (perch) and 栗/lì (chestnut).
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January 12, 2016
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Allow 少/shǎo (few), phonetic in 省/xǐng (to self examine), to be so in 劣/liè (inferior) also, it can be so in 秒/miǎo (second). Tortuous? Why not?
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January 5, 2016
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Chinese characters are not random. Take 开/kāi (to open) as phonetic in 岍/qiān (a name), 笄/jī (hairpin), 并/bìng (to combine) to minimize entropy
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December 29, 2015
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Without any final ending, initial "r" is written "er" as in 尔/ěr (you). Hence 尔 is truly phonetic in 你/nǐ (you) as r is close to n.
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December 22, 2015
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Is 孚/fú (to hatch) phonetic in 乳/rǔ (breast)? 乚 is. Zh, 扎/zhā (to prick) and l, 礼/lǐ (rite) are closer to r than f. Harbaugh is wrong, Karlgren prudent.
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December 15, 2015
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Why not recognize 某/mǒu (a certain) as a phonetic child of 木/mù (wood)? Let us give phonetics the territory which it plainly deserves.
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December 8, 2015
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Why not make /lìng (to order) a child of 今/jīn (now)? Do not semantics and phonetics conspire? Yet why violate etymology for so little gain?
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December 1, 2015
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Can you guess that 桌/zhuō (table) is a phonetic grandson of 早/zǎo (morning) via son 卓/zhuó (brilliant)? 木 masks 十, a tricky combination!
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Novembr 24, 2015
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For Harbaugh, 朝/zhāo, cháo in 廟/miào was phonetic, not so for Karlgren. The latter is right: m is unlike zh/ch. In simplified 庙, 由/yóu is neutral.
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Novembr 17, 2015
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if 勺 is also taken as zhuó, 包/bāo, 勾/gōu, 匋/táo, 勺/sháo, 匊/jú, 句/jù give 勹/bāo (to envelop) a phonetic spread of 9.5. Why not?
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Novembr 10, 2015
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Reusing 击/jī (simplified 擊) in 陆/lù to simplify 陸 creates no semantic, weak phonetic links. Pending more adoptions, 击 looks like a bad parent.
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November 3, 2015
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Shape capture in simplification makes strange bed fellows: , a form of 小/xiǎo phonetic in 肖/xiào, now stands for 尚/shàng phonetic in 当/dāng.
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October 27, 2015
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Phonetic capture in simplification can be systematic, e.g. 又 and , or in bits and pieces, as with 寸 in 讨/tǎo, 导/dǎo, 对/duì, 夺/duó, 过/guò.
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October 20, 2015
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Phonetic spread favors a connection between dentals over one between unaspirated initials. Shouldn't 妒/dù be a phonetic child of 女 via 奴/nú?
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October 13, 2015
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A marker can capture another shape, e.g. the 圭 in 封, neutralizing its role. But why not accept it can also capture a phonetic role, e.g. 王 in 望?
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October 6, 2015
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As markers to characters, so characters to words. Together two characters make a new meaning (心肝), a phrase (喜欢 or 难看) or a sound (摩托).
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Septembr 29, 2015
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Evolution messes up the logic of a language. Think of how English is spelt. Yet learn its hidden structure and find the language no longer foreign.
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Septembr 22, 2015
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Unless one knows a character, it is difficult to tell whether its markers are for sound or sense, whether simplification focused on shound or shape.
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Septembr 15, 2015
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Mostly simplified into 讠, 言 (speech) also lost territory to 文 (writing) in 这 and to 氵(water) in 注. Notes, speech flowing like water? How poetic!
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Septembr 10, 2015
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As Chinese pictograms go, an elephant 象 is but a pig 豕 with a trunk. Ignore scale: isn't mainland China but Taiwan without water around it?
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September 1, 2015
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Shapes may be slightly or grossly deformed. 算 sits in the middle. Stretched, 廾 looks like a 大 and 算/suàn like a , as in 簒/cuàn and 攥/zuàn.
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August 25, 2015
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Included in 门/mén's phonetic map, 闵/mǐn would double its phonetic spread; in 文/wén 's, it sharply decreases its spread by connecting 吝/lìn.
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August 18, 2015
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During simplification, 又 and shortened self conquered much territory over phonetic neighbors 雚 (guan, quan), 黃 (han, nan) and 壴 (shu).
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Aug 11, 2015
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Q is phonetically close to L and T. 巯/qiú is thio-, "with sulfur" (Greek: theion, Chinese: 硫/liú). What a tight-knit Greco-Chinese marriage!
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August 4, 2015
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To drop off one's skin, 蛻/tuì, clothes, 脱/tuō, words, 说/shuō. To molt, to take off, to speak, buy one character, get two more for free!
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July 28, 2015
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Stroke sequences feed muscle memory. Trigger visual memory with marker maps, e.g. 工, 𢀖, 佥. Their aural cues deliver sound information.
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July 21, 2015
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A Chinese character records a performance. Strokes dashed in seconds for calligraphy. For typography, markers made through millennia.
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July 14, 2015
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Complexity arises when multiple things take the same shape, e.g. 圭 is 土 on top of 土, but in 封 it is either 丰 or 之 combined with 土 (deformed).
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July 7, 2015
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Complexity arises when multiple shapes represent the same thing, e.g. 手, 扌, 又, 𠂇, the upper part of 肀 and 隶 all picture a human hand.
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June 16, 2015
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Confusions may arise when a shape is reused to represent a different one, e.g. 月 (moon) for 肉 (flesh), 圭 (double earth) within 封 for 丰.
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June 9, 2015
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Compare i/n/m to 一/二/三, b/d to 司/后. Same principle, but now repetition and mirroring make sense. Managing (司) is what empresses (后) do.
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June 2, 2015
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When learning, go from simple and large (一个人) to complex and small (谢谢) . Starting with the latter promotes and denotes myopia.
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May 26, 2015
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For learning how to read, use a font which clearly differentiates between strokes. Compare 天 with 夭, 𤴓 with 疋.
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May 19, 2015
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Give alphabet appeal to the 1100 markers recurring in Chinese characters, span them all from 24 families of 24 related shapes.
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May 12, 2015
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The power of an alphabet lies in its concision. Memorize 26 letters in some arbitrary order and you have a dictionary. Now try it with 1000 letters!
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May 5, 2015
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Similar shapes (午 v. 牛), sounds (公 v. 共) and sense (颈 v. 胫) stem confusion. Line up usual shape, sound, sense suspects for students.
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April 28, 2015
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Radical simplification forsakes all phonetic and semantic clues for the sake of making characters easier to the eye, like 盐 for 鹽.
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April 21, 2015
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After simplification刂 stands for 刀, for 臣, for 𠂤. Fewer strokes must be paid a closer look for telling differences.
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April 14, 2015
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Isn't it visually compelling to use spatial directions to order marker-derived characters: outside, left (听), top (号), right (加), bottom (告), inside (问)?
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April 7, 2015
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Sooner or later learning shapes lead to confusion, harmless (艮 v. ) or not (午 v. 牛)! Exorcize thru exercise, drills based on a table of shapes.
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March 31, 2015
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Shape (日,月), sense (明) and sound (萌) build characters in layers. Sound may combine with sense (门 in 问). Layers focus sound (各, 路, 露).
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March 24, 2015
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Historically 退 "to retreat" does not come from 辶 and 艮. Yet why not turn confusion into logic and cast 艮" ("to turn around") as semantic in 退?
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March 17, 2015
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Instead of thinking of 工 as a radical, shouldn't we embrace it as a marker with a strong phonetic role"?
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March 10, 2015
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Instead of limiting 艮 to a phonetic role in 跟, 恳, 垦, 恨, 狠, shouldn't we add a semantic role built on "turning toward, over, against"?
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March 3, 2015
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Instead of radical 广, wouldn't it be better to derive 度, 庶 and 席 from marker (the whole household) combined with radicals 又, 灬 and 巾?
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February 24, 2015
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Chinese characters are traditionally divided into six categories. Here is a new take.
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February 17, 2015
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Going from traditional to simplified characters is better understood through phonetics.
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February 10, 2015
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The phonetics Chinese markers convey have shifted with time. Measuring this shift may give useful insights.
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February 3, 2015
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In the Pocket Oxford Chinese dictionary, 55% of sounds are represented by 5 shapes or less.
86% of recurrent phonetic markers spread over 3 sounds or less. Isn't it a memory saving trick or what?
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January 27, 2015
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The initial "h" belongs to three phonetic families. Account for it with this table, where spaces can be occupied by neighboring initials.
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January 20, 2015
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The initial "h" is similar to "x", (see 行, and 喊(hǎn)/感(gǎn) versus 咸(xián)/減(jiǎn))
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January 13, 2015
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The initial "h" is similar to "m", "n" and "l" (see 各, 艮 and 虎/虏/虐)
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January 6, 2015
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The initial "h" is similar to "g" and "k" (see 工, 合, 各)
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December 22, 2014
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Chinese words you already know
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