Lesson 9 Partial-Pictographs: Signific Element on the Left and Phonetic Element on the Right 部分象形:左形右声

Lesson 9 Partial-Pictographs: Signific Element on the Left and Phonetic Element on the Right 部分象形:左形右声

1. 惜[xī]

Signific element (left side)—忄. It represents 心(heart, mind, feeling, intention), so the sense of 惜is related to mind,feeling and intention, e.g.爱惜(cherish, care for tenderly), 吝惜(spare, stint), 惋惜(have pity on somebody, feel sorry for somebody).

1. 惜[xī]

Signific element (left side)—忄. It represents 心(heart, mind, feeling, intention), so the sense of 惜is related to mind,feeling and intention, e.g.爱惜(cherish, care for tenderly), 吝惜(spare, stint), 惋惜(have pity on somebody, feel sorry for somebody).

Phonetic element (right side) —昔[xī]. The phonetic connected relation belongs to Type 1: the initial, the final and the tone are all the same.

2. 梧[wú]

Signific element (left side) —木. It represents a tree. The sense of 梧 is a Chinese parasol tree, which belongs to the tree category, e.g. 梧桐 (Chinese parasol tree).

Phonetic element (right side) — 吾[wú]. The phonetic connected relation belongs to Type 1: the initial, the final and the tone are all the same.

3. 躯[qū]

Signific element (left side) —身(body). The sense of 躯is the human body. 身represents the category of 躯, e.g.为国捐躯(lay down one’s life for one’s country).

Phonetic element (right side) — 区[qū]. The phonetic connected relation belongs to Type 1: the initial, the final and the tone are all the same.

4. 妈[mā]

Signific element (left side)—女(woman, female). The sense of 妈is mother or aunt, which belongs to the category of woman, e g.妈妈(mother), 大妈(aunt).

Phonetic element (right side) —马[mǎ]. The phonetic connected relation belongs to Type 2: the initial and the final are the same, but the tone is different.

5. 烧[shāo]

Signific element (left side)—火(fire). The sense of 烧is to burn, to cook, to roast, and all these senses are related to fire, e.g. 烧点水(heat up some water), 烧饭(cook food), 烧鸡(roast chicken).

Phonetic element (right side) — 尧[yáo]. The phonetic connected relation belongs to Type 4: the final is the same, but the initial and the tone are different.

6. 河[hé]

Signific element (left side) — 氵. 氵 represents water, and the sense of 河is a river, which belongs to the water category, e.g. 河流(river), 黄河(Yellow River).

Phonetic element (right side) — 可[kě]. The phonetic connected relation belongs to Type 4: the final is the same, but the initial and the tone are different.

7. 江[jiāng]

Signific element (left side) —氵 which represents 水(water). The sense of 江is a river. It belongs to the water category, e.g.江心(middle of a river), 长江(Yangtze River). Phonetic element (right side) —工[gong]. The phonetic connected relation belongs to Type 7: the initial and the final are different, but the tone is the same. In archaic Chinese, there is some relation between the pronunciation of the character and phonetic element.


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