PDF《第五课》

). c) 钟has 金as radical and 童tóng as a phonetic element;

originally it meant '

bell'

of the sort that would ring the hours from a 钟楼/钟楼 '

bell tower'

, such as the fine one in Xī'

ān. The simplified character provides a more exact phonetic element, 中. d) 岁is composed of two characters,步and 戌superimposed, with the first graph split into two parts, one part appearing on the top, and the other, in the middle. The simplified form is based on a non-standard but traditional graph with 山on top, rather than 止. e) 喜'

joy;

happiness'

(two mouths separated by a joyful smile) appears at weddings as '

double happiness'

:. 欢contains the phonetic element q, seen in eg 观guān, 灌guàn, and 罐guàn;

in the simplified graph, this complex segment gets reduced arbitrarily to 又(cf. 难,汉). f) 作,with 乍zhà as phonetic, also seen in 昨天 and 怎麽. The two characters 做and 作can both be translated as '

do'

or '

make'

in many contexts, and they are not always consistently differentiated in writing. 做is more often an independent verb, and means '

do'

as in '

to manufacture or produce'

(做饭) or '

to engage in'

(做买 卖zuò mǎimài '

to do business'

). It can also mean '

be'

(做朋友,做伴儿 zuò bànr '

to keep s/o company'

). 作,on the other hand, is more common in compounds (工作) with meanings ranging from '

compose'

(作品 zuòpǐn '

works [of literature or art]'

, 作家 zuòjiā '

writer'

, 作诗 zuò shī '

compose poems'

) to '

to be [a member of a profession]'

(作老师). (工gōng looks like the cross section of a rail or girder C good for heavy work.) g) In both traditional and simplified script, suǒ may be written 所 (户+斤) or 所(with a different first stroke). The original meaning of 所is '

place'

, as in cèsuǒ '

outhouse;

toilet'

;

the radical is 斤jīn, originally a drawing of an '

axe'

(cf. 近jìn '

close'

). The original meaning of 所is barely evident from some of its most common uses, eg in the compound 所以 suǒyǐ '

therefore;

so'

. h) 定dìng '

fixed, settled'

, shows the '

roof'

radical over the element seen in 是. [Providing a roof fixes the location.]

6 i) 功gōng '

merit'

(功课) contains a phonetic 工gōng plus 力lì '

strength'

. j) 每is the element found in 海hǎi, where it may once have been phonetic. It in turn, contains 母mǔ '

mother'

and 人. [The sea 海hǎi is the mother 母mǔ of each 每měi of us'

.] k) 位, the polite measure, with 立lì '

stand;

set up'

. (People stand politely.) 5.1.1 Compounds and phrases 因为 为什么 楼上 楼下 大楼 五楼 yīnwèi wèishénme lóushàng lóuxià dàlóu wǔlóu 三点钟 几岁 钟楼 八岁 喜欢 恭喜 congratulations sān di?n zhōng jǐsuì zhōnglóu bā suì x?huan gōngxǐ 欢迎 工作 做饭 所以 一定 功课 welcome huānyíng gōngzuò zuòfà........