Sketchbook
Where I draw and doodle thoughts and story-lines (for all sketches, see instagram below @yilindastories).
![New character painting: 玩
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Character Learning #00100.
Traditional: 玩［wán］[ㄨㄢˊ ]
Simplified: same
Radical: 王
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MODERN MEANINGS: 1) verb: play
SYNONYM: 耍 [Shuǎ] play
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CHARACTER NOTES:
玩 is yet another phono-semantic compound! On the left hand side, we have the 王 or 玉 radical, which is said to depict three pieces of jade strung together: signifying in this case playfullness. On the right hand side, we have the character 元 (yuán), which provides the sound loan.
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ART NOTES:
I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the habit of playing with jade (perhaps I’m not Chinese royalty?). So, I decided to put these three beads on the tail of a kite… which I DO love to fly/play with! *
EXAMPLE USAGE:
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玩不玩？
－ Pinyin: Wán bù wán?
－ Zhuyin: ㄨㄢˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄢˊ ？
－ Translation: Want to play? (play + no + play?)
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好玩
－ Pinyin: Hǎowán! － Zhuyin: ㄏㄠˇ ㄨㄢˊ ！
－ Translation: Amusing/entertaining (good + play)
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玩火
－ Pinyin: Wán huǒ
－ Zhuyin: ㄨㄢˊ ㄏㄨㄛˇ － Translation: risk taking (play + fire)
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#chinese #chineselearning #LearnChinese #WrittenChinese #mandarin #typography #watercolor #illustration #panda #lettering #languages #StandardChinese #Onewordaday #FlashCard #Cantonese #Putonghua #childrensbooks #learnanewlanguage #chinalife #中文 #Chinesestudent #mandarinchinese #studychinese #学汉语](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54b98290e4b089bfadcee9b5/54bc25e4e4b0a14bf4041d74/5b919e5939de2416b57b460f/1536269928646/)
![CHARACTER REVIEW: 美 ＊
Traditional: 美［měi ］[ ㄇㄟˇ ]
Simplified: same
Radical: 八
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MODERN MEANINGS: 1) adjective: beautiful 2) noun: beauty 3) verb: to beautify 4）noun: “USA”
SYNONYMS: 1) adjective 美麗(丽) (Měi lì, ㄇㄟˇ ㄌㄧˋ ): beautiful
ANTONYM: 1) adjective: 醜 (丑) (Chǒu，cㄏㄡˇ ) ugly
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CHARACTER TYPE:
Compound ideograph - ( 會意 huì yì, "joined meaning")
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CHARACTER NOTES:
美 is a compound of two different characters: 羊 (goat or ram) and 大 (big) . There are several explanations for why 羊 + 大 = 美 … eventually came to represent “beauty”. One common explanation is that “big sheep” were considered desirable - even beautiful. If your family had the biggest sheep in the village… well, well. Go you!
However, another explanation is that originally, 美 depicted a person (大 originally represented a person with arms spread wide) wearing a fancy headdress. Who wouldn’t feel pretty (oh-so-pretty) in a headdress like that?
Contemporary note: In the media, 美 is often used as a shorthand for 美國(国) or the USA. As 中國(国) is China, Sino-US relations are usually referred to as “中美” relations
ART NOTE:
I’ve decided to go with the headdress interpretation for this painting… inspired by the costuming in Peking opera!
EXAMPLE USAGE:
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美好
－ Pinyin: Měihǎo
－ Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˇ ㄏㄠˇ － Translation: wonderful, glorious *
美女
－ Pinyin: měi nǚ
－ Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˇ ㄋㄩˇ － Translation: A beautiful woman
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美國(国)
－ Pinyin: měi guó
－ Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˇ ㄍㄨㄛˊ － Translation: America (USA) (beauty + country)
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#pandacubstories #chinese #chineselearning #mandarin #typography #watercolor #panda #lettering #languages #FlashCard #Cantonese #Putonghua #Chinese #StandardChinese #LearnChinese
#Onewordaday #WrittenChinese #learnanewlanguage #chinalife #中文 #Chinesestudent #mandarinchinese #studychinese #学汉语](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54b98290e4b089bfadcee9b5/54bc25e4e4b0a14bf4041d74/5b919e5939de2416b57b4610/1536269930791/)
![New character painting: 孩👶🏾👧🏻
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Character Learning #0099.
Traditional: 孩［hái］[ㄏㄞˊ ]
Simplified: 孩
Radical: 子
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MODERN MEANINGS: 1) Noun: child
SYNONYM: 孩子 (child)
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CHARACTER NOTES:
孩 is another phono-semantic compound. On the left hand side, we have the 子 radical, which gives us the meaning. As we’ve learned, 子 is a character in its own right, and means “child”. In fact, “孩子” is the typical way to say “child” in Chinese. On the right hand side, you have the character 亥 (hài). This used to depict an animal, but is now mostly used to lend sound to different characters. *
EXAMPLE USAGE:
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小孩
－ Pinyin: Xiǎohái
－ Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄏㄞˊ － Translation: small child (young child)
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男孩
－ Pinyin: nánhái
－ Zhuyin: ㄋㄢˊ ㄏㄞˊ － Translation: boy (male + child)
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女孩
－ Pinyin: nǚhái
－ Zhuyin: ㄋㄩˇ ㄏㄞˊ
－ Translation: girl (female + child)
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#chinese #chineselearning #LearnChinese #WrittenChinese #mandarin #typography #watercolor #illustration #panda #lettering #languages #StandardChinese #Onewordaday #FlashCard #Cantonese #Putonghua #childrensbooks #learnanewlanguage #chinalife #中文 #Chinesestudent #mandarinchinese #studychinese #学汉语](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54b98290e4b089bfadcee9b5/54bc25e4e4b0a14bf4041d74/5b9058f339de2464c9f9ae99/1536186622829/)
Where I draw and doodle thoughts and story-lines (for all sketches, see instagram below @yilindastories).