3 ms·

Right, but there are still some nice examples, like: 木 = tree 森林 = forest And: 田 = field 力 = strength 男 = man (because he labours in the fields)

ravel-bar-foo 5y ago
This breaks down very quickly as you get more abstract. 人 = person "rén" 门 = gate "mén" 们 = plurality marker "mėn" 也 = also "yé" 他 = he "tā" 他们 = them "tāmėn" One can come up with a story for why person + gate is plural, but the inclusion of gate in the character for plurality is really more about the sound of gate.
- alisonatwork 5y ago
  This is even more interesting because prior to the 1920s 他 was a gender neutral third person pronoun. And in ancient Chinese 也 was probably pronounced differently to today's yě, perhaps more like the ā of tā. A great resource for looking up the history of individual characters is Wiktionary: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BB%96 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BB%96 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9F https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9F Wiktionary is neat because it also shows you pronunciations in several different Chinese languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Minnan, Hakka etc) and the relationship to Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese, if it's there.
  - ravel-bar-foo 5y ago
    I think 他 is still gender neural, I put down "he" out of laziness, since the feminine-only form is 她... but you make good points.
- rahimnathwani 5y ago
  Yes totally. I wasn't contradicting GP. The pattern where part of the character indicates the sound is so common that it helps me a great deal when reading Chinese. My speaking/hearing is better than my reading. I might not know how to write a particular character but, if I can guess the sound, then that plus the surrounding context are enough for me to know what the word is.

3 ms·

Right, but there are still some nice examples, like: 木 = tree 森林 = forest And: 田 = field 力 = strength 男 = man (because he labours in the fields)

by rahimnathwani 5y ago

ravel-bar-foo 5y ago
This breaks down very quickly as you get more abstract. 人 = person "rén" 门 = gate "mén" 们 = plurality marker "mėn" 也 = also "yé" 他 = he "tā" 他们 = them "tāmėn" One can come up with a story for why person + gate is plural, but the inclusion of gate in the character for plurality is really more about the sound of gate.
- alisonatwork 5y ago
  This is even more interesting because prior to the 1920s 他 was a gender neutral third person pronoun. And in ancient Chinese 也 was probably pronounced differently to today's yě, perhaps more like the ā of tā. A great resource for looking up the history of individual characters is Wiktionary: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BB%96 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BB%96 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9F https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9F Wiktionary is neat because it also shows you pronunciations in several different Chinese languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Minnan, Hakka etc) and the relationship to Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese, if it's there.
  - ravel-bar-foo 5y ago
    I think 他 is still gender neural, I put down "he" out of laziness, since the feminine-only form is 她... but you make good points.
- rahimnathwani 5y ago
  Yes totally. I wasn't contradicting GP. The pattern where part of the character indicates the sound is so common that it helps me a great deal when reading Chinese. My speaking/hearing is better than my reading. I might not know how to write a particular character but, if I can guess the sound, then that plus the surrounding context are enough for me to know what the word is.