For anyone who speaks Cantonese and wants to learn Mandarin, I have a free guide to help you get started! Check it out below! www.thecmblueprint.com/guide-8906-4277-9454-2759
1. The six methods of character composition are not exclusive: they are mutually reinforcing! 2. Every character is a combination of image, sound(s) and ideas. 3. Many characters in fact have an initial sound clue and a final clue as well. Chinese spelling tends to be read from top down and from right to left but i have seen examples of bottom up and left to right. a) FOR EXAMPLE wo wu ou wo3 戊 is the inital sound clue. 手 is the final clue. The ideograph here is hand+spear, spearman since every man in antiquity was also a soldier. b) there are many other examples. 声 for example has an initial sound clue sh- above 士 though with this one the picture is probably better a masterly man above striking chimes below as a representation of the idea of sound. 4 明ming is not en example of a phonetic character. It combines the two brightest objects in the sky to represent the idea of bright. 5 CHARACTER COMPONENTS CAN BE REUSED TO REPRESENT OTHER THINGS as indeed 月 is both a picture of hte moon (the line in the middle calls attention to the idea that the moon is bright) but 月 is also a picture of ribs, a slab of meat with ribs visible. Meat, muscle. 6 thus 口 may be a mouth, windows in a building, walls of a city seen from above or perhaps also walls of a manor house seen from above. Cantonese is in fact even prettier than mandarin. You are best to study pictographs and ideographs first. They are then reused as phonetic and semantic elements in complex characters and are easier to remember because they are much more common. They are few in number but are all high frequency! In contrast the phono semantic characters are many in number but each of them is infrequent. The pictograms are highly simplified stylized pictures which may be seen from various angles. This is a good example 虫 is a bug, it is a picture of a snail from the side, or a beetle from above, but it also contains phonetic element 中zhong which rhymes with chong. the other component is 厶si so perhaps the ancients thought combining S and ZH made CH. Chinese is amazing and it is frustrating for newbies because it is badly taught. I wrote an entire series of books about learning Chinese using the innovative methods above. It is called "quizmaster learn chinese" you may contact me for review eBooks.
I like the Gen Z humour in this video and tbh this is a problem i run into a lot. I’m a “banana” person (people called me that because I couldnt speak chinese) but recently I have been trying to learn how to read chinese characters. But simplified mandarin and traditional mandarin is throwing me off lol. Traditional is harder to write but unironically easier to see the logic behind/ and simplified is easier to write but the characters have nothing to do with their actual concept at times
Actually, 可 and 河 are pronounced differently in Middle Chinese (khaX and ha, respectively). So, even though it's true that on average Cantonese is closer to Middle Chinese, in this specific example Mandarin won. The phonetic component is often not precise by design. When a scribe had to invent a new character, he tried to find another character with a similar pronunciation but it wasn't always possible. So often we have characters that differ not only by tone but also by the initial. For example, consider 眼 and 很. They always had a different initial, even at the time of creation.
For the meat radical, the two inside strokes should be slanted. If it's two straight lines, then it's a moon radical. But most fonts don't differentiate between them. Cantonese is about 2000 years old, but what it preserved most of is Tang Dynasty vocab, tones, and some pronunciation.
Excuse me, but ETCHING is not the same as ENGRAVING. The first uses a wax coating to draw and acid to eat into the drawing, which is then inked and printed. Engraving is when the artist cuts directly into the plate, which is then inked and printed.
“有边读边 无边读中间” ... I learn this at very young age, like this is the rule of pronouncing Chinese words, like a secret to cheat. But I never knew why, now I know ! Ha ha ha ... kind of funny ! :)
Do you guys like the little jokes or do you prefer like raw information pure education? Im trying to find a good balance. I know some of you want pure education.. So to you I ask: do you find the jokes distracting? 😮
Your videos are good. I think you have the right balance. I suggest using writing for presenting more information and the humorous bits should be oral. Perhaps indicate in the spoken bit to read the video as well as listen for that reason since some auditors will not watch otherwise and just listen to you like ap odcast. I'm personally interested in mando to canto idk how many others might be 我的汉语流利的不会南方语言/广东话.
For all the things about the origin of the characters, can you name some documents that you reference? I am really interested in learning more into that area.
I actually wonder how much in each of the forms of Chinese have phono-semantic compounds that have gone through a sound shift. IIRC in Cantonese 北 and 背 are pronounced differently but are the same in Mandarin (and some dialects of Wu Chinese).
You only cited words that are pronounced in Cantonese but not in Mandarin. In fact, there are a lot of such phenomena in Cantonese. Any dialect will change in history. It is impossible for any language to remain unchanged forever. Especially considering that Cantonese has obvious influences from the Tai-Kadai language family, even the appearance of Cantonese people is more like Southeast Asian people. This shows that it is not only the language that is influenced, but also the genes of the Baiyue people have obvious influence on the Cantonese people. The Baiyue people are the Tai-Kadai language family.
In general not bad. However, I find getting right to the point of a video to be more helpful. Personally I'm not here to be entertained but to learn mandarin. For the material you discussed this could have been a 4-5 minute video. Hope this helps.
Good video until you felt the need to mock Trump. Not funny; Just annoying. Why not pick on Xi if you want to inject politics? I’ve got @ 300 characters down. Mostly by reading a little every day. The history and development is entertaining but maybe not terribly useful for a student.
0:21 Well... I am a modern liberal person but if you think about it and how women have been treated as property of their husbands in many instances in history and how simplified chinese is based in traditional chinese it kinda... makes sense..?
For anyone who speaks Cantonese and wants to learn Mandarin, I have a free guide to help you get started! Check it out below!
www.thecmblueprint.com/guide-8906-4277-9454-2759
The 月 part in 肚 is actually a 肉 radical as you can see in Traditional Chinese, they have a difference just like 日 and 曰
1. The six methods of character composition are not exclusive: they are mutually reinforcing!
2. Every character is a combination of image, sound(s) and ideas.
3. Many characters in fact have an initial sound clue and a final clue as well. Chinese spelling tends to be read from top down and from right to left but i have seen examples of bottom up and left to right.
a) FOR EXAMPLE wo wu ou wo3 戊 is the inital sound clue. 手 is the final clue. The ideograph here is hand+spear, spearman since every man in antiquity was also a soldier.
b) there are many other examples. 声 for example has an initial sound clue sh- above 士 though with this one the picture is probably better a masterly man above striking chimes below as a representation of the idea of sound.
4 明ming is not en example of a phonetic character. It combines the two brightest objects in the sky to represent the idea of bright.
5 CHARACTER COMPONENTS CAN BE REUSED TO REPRESENT OTHER THINGS as indeed 月 is both a picture of hte moon (the line in the middle calls attention to the idea that the moon is bright) but 月 is also a picture of ribs, a slab of meat with ribs visible. Meat, muscle.
6 thus 口 may be a mouth, windows in a building, walls of a city seen from above or perhaps also walls of a manor house seen from above.
Cantonese is in fact even prettier than mandarin.
You are best to study pictographs and ideographs first. They are then reused as phonetic and semantic elements in complex characters and are easier to remember because they are much more common. They are few in number but are all high frequency! In contrast the phono semantic characters are many in number but each of them is infrequent.
The pictograms are highly simplified stylized pictures which may be seen from various angles.
This is a good example 虫 is a bug, it is a picture of a snail from the side, or a beetle from above, but it also contains phonetic element 中zhong which rhymes with chong. the other component is 厶si so perhaps the ancients thought combining S and ZH made CH.
Chinese is amazing and it is frustrating for newbies because it is badly taught. I wrote an entire series of books about learning Chinese using the innovative methods above. It is called "quizmaster learn chinese" you may contact me for review eBooks.
I like the Gen Z humour in this video and tbh this is a problem i run into a lot. I’m a “banana” person (people called me that because I couldnt speak chinese) but recently I have been trying to learn how to read chinese characters. But simplified mandarin and traditional mandarin is throwing me off lol. Traditional is harder to write but unironically easier to see the logic behind/ and simplified is easier to write but the characters have nothing to do with their actual concept at times
Thank you so much for this video it’s so helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
Heads up at 6:33 the character on the right for road should be 路 and not 露. Great Video though
Fantastic explainer!
Actually, 可 and 河 are pronounced differently in Middle Chinese (khaX and ha, respectively). So, even though it's true that on average Cantonese is closer to Middle Chinese, in this specific example Mandarin won.
The phonetic component is often not precise by design. When a scribe had to invent a new character, he tried to find another character with a similar pronunciation but it wasn't always possible. So often we have characters that differ not only by tone but also by the initial. For example, consider 眼 and 很. They always had a different initial, even at the time of creation.
For the meat radical, the two inside strokes should be slanted. If it's two straight lines, then it's a moon radical. But most fonts don't differentiate between them.
Cantonese is about 2000 years old, but what it preserved most of is Tang Dynasty vocab, tones, and some pronunciation.
Excuse me, but ETCHING is not the same as ENGRAVING. The first uses a wax coating to draw and acid to eat into the drawing, which is then inked and printed. Engraving is when the artist cuts directly into the plate, which is then inked and printed.
“有边读边 无边读中间” ... I learn this at very young age, like this is the rule of pronouncing Chinese words, like a secret to cheat. But I never knew why, now I know ! Ha ha ha ... kind of funny ! :)
Do you guys like the little jokes or do you prefer like raw information pure education?
Im trying to find a good balance.
I know some of you want pure education.. So to you I ask: do you find the jokes distracting? 😮
Your videos are good. I think you have the right balance. I suggest using writing for presenting more information and the humorous bits should be oral. Perhaps indicate in the spoken bit to read the video as well as listen for that reason since some auditors will not watch otherwise and just listen to you like ap odcast.
I'm personally interested in mando to canto idk how many others might be 我的汉语流利的不会南方语言/广东话.
0:21 This sudden fact/joke is my favourite lol
Your jokes are amazing. Love the editing too! Having something funny to think about while learning makes it easier to remember :D
I love the jokes. I speak Chinese so I'm not here for the lesson but only for the humor lol
For all the things about the origin of the characters, can you name some documents that you reference? I am really interested in learning more into that area.
I actually wonder how much in each of the forms of Chinese have phono-semantic compounds that have gone through a sound shift. IIRC in Cantonese 北 and 背 are pronounced differently but are the same in Mandarin (and some dialects of Wu Chinese).
I'm a Mandarin learner, but Cantonese-curious.
As someone with the last name 林, now I wonder what my ancestors did in the woods...
You could say the mu 木 was definitely put to use
I guess they owned/controlled them.
How does this guy have under 100K subscribers!???
He has a mil on his main chanel cantomando
You only cited words that are pronounced in Cantonese but not in Mandarin. In fact, there are a lot of such phenomena in Cantonese. Any dialect will change in history. It is impossible for any language to remain unchanged forever. Especially considering that Cantonese has obvious influences from the Tai-Kadai language family, even the appearance of Cantonese people is more like Southeast Asian people. This shows that it is not only the language that is influenced, but also the genes of the Baiyue people have obvious influence on the Cantonese people. The Baiyue people are the Tai-Kadai language family.
Wouldn't it make more sense if forest was a collection of trees 樹樹 rather than a collection of woods 木木?
my brain just committed suicide...
"Doesn't sound that scary anymore" - emotional damage, failure, haiyaa
Category + approximate pronunciation
Duo lingo should pay you to be on their team
Arent there phonetic semantic compounds that no longer work in Cantonese too?
You are handsome. You articulate well. You explain well. But the sound of the video is too low.
Volume is too low, yup.
可 can also sometimes be pronounced as hē as well cuz I saw it in a dictionary
In general not bad. However, I find getting right to the point of a video to be more helpful. Personally I'm not here to be entertained but to learn mandarin. For the material you discussed this could have been a 4-5 minute video. Hope this helps.
Good video until you felt the need to mock Trump. Not funny; Just annoying. Why not pick on Xi if you want to inject politics? I’ve got @ 300 characters down. Mostly by reading a little every day. The history and development is entertaining but maybe not terribly useful for a student.
Because Trump is a garbage human being. Also, Project 2025
womp womp
Never insult my goat again >:(
lol
Hmm Trump is walmart german moustache man while Xi is an actual competent leader. that's why
0:21 Well... I am a modern liberal person but if you think about it and how women have been treated as property of their husbands in many instances in history and how simplified chinese is based in traditional chinese it kinda... makes sense..?