Comments on: How to talk about Chinese characters in Chinese

By: Olle Linge

Olle Linge — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 17:40:18 +0000

In reply to Henrik. I doubt it, but I could be wrong! As I mention in the article, in most cases, people just pick something off the top of their heads, so there are many options and no fixed rules for how to talk about most characters.

By: Henrik

Henrik — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 22:24:24 +0000

I wonder if there is any database/dictionary, where for every character, they include the common way to talk about this character. Would be very helpful for beginner students.

By: Olle Linge

Olle Linge — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 11:29:16 +0000

In reply to karmabum. Glad to hear that I was able to shed light on something you've experienced! :)

By: karmabum

karmabum — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 03:41:16 +0000

Believe it or not, after years studying Chinese in college and living in China, my friend would sometimes use these methods to describe characters he was talking about, and I never had ANY idea what he was on about. Thanks Olle!

By: John Rohsenow

John Rohsenow — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 03:32:14 +0000

In reply to Olle Linge.

Sorry, I’m a bit slow in replying, not being very computer savy.
I only meant to say that I covered this same ground in about the same way in the handbook on Chinese characters I did a while back, with perhaps a little more detail as to the colloquial names of the strokes, rdicals etc, and in case anyone wanted an additional “reference” to cite. Thanks.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:17:56 +0000

Very useful article. As a teacher in China I often hear descriptions of characters like this between my students. Sometimes because a student has an unusual surname which the others can’t picture, sometimes because a student has forgotten how to write a Chinese character but most often because of pronunciation differences between the generally Mandarin speaking younger generation and the older students who have a less standard regional pronunciation.

By: Olle Linge

Olle Linge — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 05:56:00 +0000

In reply to John S. Rohsenow. It would be interesting to know what you wrote; I don't think many people will rush over and buy the book based on just the fact that you wrote something in it. :)

By: John S. Rohsenow

John S. Rohsenow — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 20:56:40 +0000

In reply to John S. Rohsenow.

Sorry- I don’t know what a URL is.
rohsenow@yahoo.com

By: John S. Rohsenow

John S. Rohsenow — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 20:54:36 +0000

I wrote a short section about this in the book I helped YIN Binyong edit: MODERN CHINESE CHARACTERS, published by Sinolingua in Beijing.—John Rohsenow, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago

By: Adrian

Adrian — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 04:32:01 +0000

This is a really good one. I was just thinking I needed this and here it is!