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chinese (traditional) > Building Blocks, Compounds +phrases > Flashcards

Building Blocks, Compounds +phrases Flashcards

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Chinese (Mandarin) flashcards
1
Q

火

A

Fire (huo 3)

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2
Q

炎

A

Burning hot (yan 2)

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3
Q

炎炎

A

Blazing (yan 2. Yan 2)

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4
Q

牛

A

Cow (niu 2)

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5
Q

偏旁

A

Pian pang

Certain building block characters have an alternate form that appears only when used as part of a compound

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6
Q

Tone 1

A

High level tone

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7
Q

Tone 2

A

High rising tone

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8
Q

Tone 3

A

Falling rising tone

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9
Q

Tone 4

A

Falling tone

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10
Q

No number

A

Neutral tone

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11
Q

燚夏日

A

Blazing summer

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12
Q

人

A

Person (ren 2)

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13
Q

亻

A

Person (ren 2)

The character is the form of person that is used as a component in certain compounds

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14
Q

从

A

To follow (cong 2)

The character comprises two building blocks for ‘person’ . One man leads the other follows close behind

(This is the simplified form)

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15
Q

從

A

To follow

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16
Q

众

A

Crowd (Zhong. 4)

Traditional form

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17
Q

眾

A

Crowd

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18
Q

大

A

Big (da 4)

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19
Q

夫

A

Man (fu. 1)

Man is the compound for big with an extra line across the top of the character like wide shoulders . This line represents the pins in a mans topknot hairstyle

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20
Q

大人

A

Adult (da 4. Ren. 2)

Height doesn’t always indicate maturity but in simple terms an adult is just a big person

Big + person = adult

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21
Q

大众

A

Public (da 4. Zhong 4)

The public is made up of a large group of people

Big + crowd = public

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22
Q

众人

A

People. (Zhong 4. Ren. 2 )

A crowd is made up of many different people. This phrase also means ‘everybody’ . Crowd + person = people

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23
Q

夫人

A

Madam (fu 1. Ren 2 )

In ancient China, a woman became her husbands property after marriage

She became her husbands person
Man + person = madam

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24
Q

太

A

Too much (tai 4)

This compound comprises big and a stroke under the character suggesting something even bigger . It also means ‘extremely’ or ‘excessively’

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25
Q

太太

A

Mrs / wife (tai 4. Tai 4)

This is a strange phrase. To have double too much means ‘mrs’ and ‘wife.

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26
Q

太大

A

Too big (tai 4 da 4)

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27
Q

大夫

A

Doctor (dai 4 fu)

This phrase has two meanings . When pronounced ‘dai 4 + fu’ in a neutral and soft tone , it means ‘doctor’. When pronounced ‘da 4 + fu 1) it means senior official

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28
Q

天

A

Sky / heaven/ day (tian 1)

When you put a line on top of ‘big’ 大 it means sky or heaven. Traditionally the line represented the spiritual level above man and earth

29
Q

人人

A

Everyone (ren 2 ren 2 )

30
Q

天人

A

Person (tian 1 ren 2)

Sky + person = sky person = heaven or a person with universal insight

31
Q

天大

A

Extremely big (tian 1 da 4)

32
Q

天天

A

Everyday (tian 1 tian.1)

The character for sky also means day

Day + day = everyday

33
Q

口

A

Mouth (kou 3)

Depending on the size of the building block, this character means either ‘mouth’ ( if it is small) or to surround (if it is large )

34
Q

口

A

To surround (wei 2)

It is nearly impossible to to tell the difference between the characters mouth and to surround

The difference is usually made evident by the meaning of the compound.

To surround NEVER. Appears alone so if 囗 is standing alone it means mouth

35
Q

吅

A

Shout (xuan 1)

A mouth emits sound. Two mouths emit even more sound

36
Q

品

A

Quality/ item / product / grade (pin 3)

Imagine each mouth is an opinion. The quality is judged by what people say about it.

37
Q

因

A

To cause/ because of / reason (yin 1)

38
Q

回

A

To return (hui 2)

39
Q

人口

A

Population (ren 2 kou 3)

When we start counting how many mouths we need to feed , we are talking about the population

40
Q

人品

A

Morality (ren 2 pin 3)

Remember, it is always wise to judge the quality of a person on the basis of their morality

Person + quality = morality

41
Q

回人

A

Hui people (hui 2 ren 2)

Hui is used to refer to Chinese speakers of Muslim ancestry. They are one of the fifty six recognized ethnic groups in China. To return + person = returned people
= hui people

42
Q

人魚

A

Mermaid (ren 2 yu 2)

In ancient China, this phrase referred to the giant salamander. Today it means ‘mermaid’

Person + fish = fish person
Fish person = mermaid

43
Q

魚

A

Fish (yu 2 )

This character originally referred to a aquatic vertebrate, but has since been extended to mean fish

It’s simplified form is 鱼

44
Q

犬

A

Dog (Quan 3)

The regular form of this character is ‘big’ 大
With an additional dot on the upper right side. The earliest form in oracle bone was a drawing of a dog with an extra stroke representing its tail

45
Q

犭

A

Dog (Quan 3)

46
Q

吠

A

To bark (fei 4)

47
Q

哭

A

To cry (ku 1)

48
Q

器

A

Utensil / instrument (qi 4)

49
Q

犬吠

A

To bark loudly (da 4 fei 4

50
Q

大哭

A

To cry out / to burst into tears (da 4 ku 1)

51
Q

大器

A

Achievement/generosity (da 4 qi 4)

This phrase also means ‘great talent’.

51
Q

焱

A

Flames (yan. 4)

51
Q

亻火

A

Group (huo 3)

51
Q

啖

A

To eat (dan 4)

51
Q

焱焱

A

Flames of fire (yan 4 yan 4)

51
Q

大伙

A

Folks (da 4. Huo 3)

51
Q

火大

A

Angry (huo 3 da 4)

51
Q

大火

A

Big fire (da 4 huo 3)

51
Q

木

A

Tree (mu 4)

51
Q

林

A

Woods (lin 2)

This character is also a common surname, pronounced ‘Lin’

51
Q

森

A

Forest (sen 1)

Three trees make a forest which is greater than a tree or a wood. When used as an adjective this character means ‘dense’ just like a thick cluster of trees

52
Q

本

A

Foundation (ben 3)

The foundation of a house is the first step in its construction and traditionally foundations were made from wood. This character also means ‘origin’

53
Q

來

A

To come (lai 2)

In ancient china ‘to come’ was represented by a character based on wheat, which had been brought from china to europe.

The simplified form is 来

54
Q

本來

A

Originally (ben 3 lai 2)

55
Q

本人

A

One’s self (ben 3 ren 2)

A person’s origin often influences their sense of self

56
Q

來人

A

Messenger ( lai 2 ren 2)

Before electricity all messages had to be sent by person

57
Q

本人火大

A

I am furious (ben 3 ren 2 huo 3 da 4)

58
Q

杏

A

Apricot / almond(xing 4)

This character is a combination of tree and mouth . I would wait under a tree with my mouth open to catch an apricot

59
Q

呆

A

Idiot / dull (dai 1)

This character is another combination of mouth and tree. Nothing is more idiotic than the thought of talking to a tree

chinese (traditional) (1 decks)

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