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  • Let's talk about Chinese characters.

    我們來聊聊中文字吧!

  • They look tough and scary with all of their random lines, swoops and slashes

    它們有好多撇來撇去的線條, 看起來既困難又可怕

  • but they're not actually as difficult as you think.

    但是它們其實沒有想像中那麼困難。

  • They're just very different from the phonetic alphabets

    它們只是跟西方人

  • that westerners are used to.

    習慣的拼音文字不同而已。 (吼~~~)

  • With alphabets, the letters act like "building blocks"

    在英文字母表裡, 每個字母就像一個"積木",

  • that combine to form words.

    一個個拼起來變成一個"字"。

  • When you see the letter "T",

    當你看到字母"T",

  • you know it represents the sound /t/.

    你就知道它的聲音是 /t/

  • When you see the letters "T-R-E-E",

    當你看到 “T-R-E-E”這些字母,

  • you recognize all of those sound symbols

    你認得出每個字母代表的聲音

  • and you can put them together to form the sound "tree".

    然可把字母拼在一起並念出"tree"。

  • If you want to write the word "tree",

    如果想要寫"tree" 這個字,

  • you think about how to say the word,

    你會先思考怎麼念這個字,

  • pay attention to the sounds that you make,

    專注在你發的聲音

  • and then write down those letters.

    然後寫下這些字母,

  • That's how a phonetic writing system works.

    這就是拼音文字的書寫方法。

  • Chinese is much different though.

    但是中文字非常不同,

  • It's a pictographic writing system,

    中文是一種象形文字,

  • not a phonetic writing system.

    不是拼音文字。

  • Being a "pictographic writing system" means that Chinese characters

    象形文字表示每個中文字

  • are pictures, like Egyptian hieroglyphs.

    都是一個圖片, 就像埃及文字,

  • So, when you want to write the word "tree"

    如果你要寫"樹",

  • you don't have to bother with writing letters

    你不用把字拼出來

  • so the reader can sound-out the word...

    讓讀者念出這個字,

  • You simply draw a picture of a tree (木).

    你只需要畫一棵樹就好了,

  • It's that simple.

    就這麼簡單。(木)

  • That's how a pictographic writing system works!

    這就是象形文字的書寫方法。

  • The Chinese writing system is based on drawings of things they saw

    中文書寫系統基本上是

  • in the world around them.

    把人看到的所有事物畫下來。

  • When you look at a Chinese character,

    當你看著一個中文字,

  • you are looking at a stylized drawing that depicts an object or an idea.

    其實是看著一幅表達一個東西 或想法的簡化圖片。

  • If a Chinese character is a picture of an object, like a tree,

    如果是表達一個物體的中文字, 像是樹,

  • it's called a "pictograph".

    這就叫做"象形文字"。

  • If a Chinese character is a picture of an abstract idea like "three" or "happy"

    如果是表達一個抽象概念的字, 像是"三"或是"快樂",

  • it's called an "ideograph", which means "idea picture".

    這就叫做"意形文字", 意思是”概念的圖片”。

  • In layman terms though,

    簡單來說,

  • you can simply refer to the Chinese script as "Chinese characters".

    你可以簡單的稱中文字體為 "Chinese characters"

  • You are actually quite familiar with pictographs and ideographs;

    其實你已經對象形及意形文字很熟悉了,

  • you see these types of symbols on a daily basis

    在世界各地,

  • all around the world in the form of street signs and warning labels

    你每天都會在街上 看到路標跟警告標誌等這些符號,

  • (like recycle, radioactive, wet floor, no swimming, no smoking, etc.).

    像是回收,小心幅射, 地板濕滑,禁止游泳,禁止吸菸等,

  • These are examples of pictographic symbols

    這些都是象形符號的例子,

  • and they are universally understood because the human mind

    而且是全世界通用的,

  • is excellent at pattern matching.

    因為人腦對於圖案比對很在行,

  • When an eye sees a pattern,

    當人的眼睛看到一個圖案,

  • the brain has an innate drive to decipher the pattern

    腦筋會直覺的把這個圖案解讀成

  • as something it recognizes.

    它原本就認識的東西。

  • It's easy enough to draw pictographs for simple objects such as a tree (木),

    要畫一個簡單的物體很容易, 像是"木"

  • fire (火)

    或是"火"

  • or a multi-floored tower (高) to express the idea "tall".

    或是一個數層樓的塔代表"高"。

  • However attempting to draw abstract ideas like "have"

    然而,若是想要畫一些抽象的概念

  • or "may" as in "May I?" is a little more complicated.

    像是"有","可以" 就比較複雜。

  • Consider for a moment what you would draw

    先想一下你會如何畫出

  • to capture the essence of "have/possess".

    "擁有"的意思,

  • Perhaps you could draw a hand with something in it?

    或許是一隻手拿著一個東西?

  • That's exactly what the Chinese ideograph portrays:

    這就是中文意形文字的描述方式:

  • it's a simple two-part picture depicting a hand with an object in it (有).

    由一隻手跟一個物體的圖片合起來就是"擁有"。

  • How about graphically illustrating the idea "may"?

    那麼如何表達"可以"?

  • What could be drawn to represent this complex idea?

    該畫什麼來傳達這個複雜的概念呢?

  • The actual Chinese ideograph for this (可)

    中文意形字"可"

  • is composed of two simpler pictographic parts:

    是由兩個簡單的圖片合起來:

  • "obstacle" (ㄎ) and "opening" (口).

    "障礙" (ㄎ) 以及 "開口" (口)。

  • By these two simpler pictures combining together,

    藉由結合這兩個簡單的圖片,

  • they paint a picture that can be interpreted as

    它們變成一個可以解釋成

  • "a way through an obstacle",

    "穿越障礙的方法"的圖片,

  • which is a very interesting way to think of getting permission.

    用這種說法來解釋"允許"很有意思。

  • Most Chinese characters work like the two examples above.

    大部分的中文字都是用這樣的方式來表達意思,

  • Multiple simple pictographs are combined to convey increasingly

    數個簡單的象形圖片結合成

  • complex objects and ideas.

    複雜的概念。

  • This approach makes sense

    而使用這種方法是很自然而然的,

  • because there is a seemingly endless list of objects, ideas,

    因為語言中有太多的物體,概念,

  • situations, actions, and descriptive words used in communication.

    情況,動作,形容詞。

  • It would be very difficult for every word to have

    不可能每一個字都有一個

  • its own completely unique symbol.

    完全獨一無二的圖片。

  • Just for fun, let's look at a few more examples of how

    我們來看看一些例子,

  • Chinese characters depict nouns, verbs,

    中文字如何表達名詞,動詞,

  • adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions.

    形容詞,副詞,介係詞,以及連接詞。

  • "Autumn" is the season when grain stalks (禾) in the fields are burned (火).

    秋天是 燒(火)田中稻草(禾)的季節。

  • The verb "see" depicts a hand (龵)

    "看"這個動詞代表看著遠方時,

  • shading an eye (目) as it gazes into the distance.

    把手(龵)放在眼睛 (目)上方的動作。

  • Shells were used as currency in ancient times.

    貝是古代的貨幣,

  • To make some purchases, an entire basket (貝)

    買貴的東西時需要用

  • of shells (貝) was needed, so this is how the Chinese character

    一整個籃子來裝貝,

  • for "expensive" is drawn.

    這就是中文表示"貴"的方法。

  • To express "not", the Chinese character shows a hand (又)

    為了表達"沒有",中文字用一隻手(又)

  • reaching into swirling water (氵) searching for a lost object (⺇).

    伸進水裡 (氵) 尋找失去的物體(⺇)來表示。

  • The character for "to" shows a bird swooping down towards the ground (土),

    "至"這個字代表一隻鳥降落在地上(土),

  • arriving "to" its destination.

    "至"牠的目的地。

  • The conjunction "must" reminds us of an ancient decree imposed on all men

    連接詞"須"表達古代男人被要求

  • that required them to maintain long beards and hair (彡) on their heads (頁).

    頭上(頁)要留長髮及鬍子(彡)。

  • All of these simple pictographic components

    這些簡單的象形部件

  • fit together like puzzle pieces

    像拼圖一樣合在一起

  • to create a balanced visually pleasing Chinese character of uniform size.

    創造了一個大小相同, 整體視覺上"對稱"的中文字。

  • Some of these component parts are thin and tall,

    有一些部件比較細而長,

  • others are short and wide,

    有一些比較短而寬,

  • and some bend.

    還有一些是彎曲的。

  • Depending on how many of these are combined,

    根據一個字裡部件數量,

  • along with the shape of each component part

    以及每一個部件的形狀,

  • the following layouts are possible:

    有以下不同的中文字結構。

  • 2 or 3 component parts might be stacked vertically,

    2到3個部件可以向上疊在一起,

  • lined up next to each other horizontally,

    或左右排在一起。

  • one component could encompass or partially encompass another,

    一個部件可以全部或部分圍著另一個部件,

  • or any combination of these three.

    或者以上三種結構互相結合。

  • There are also rare instances where two components will merge together,

    偶而,兩個部件也會合併在一起,

  • as if one has been laid on top of the other.

    像是其中一個躺在另一個上方。

  • Additionally, some of these simple pictographic components - but not all -

    另外,有些簡單的部件也可以獨立存在,

  • are able to stand alone without combining with other components.

    不須和其他部件結合。

  • For example, the component "heart" (心) is often combined with other components

    例如"心"這個部件常常和其它部件結合

  • to help relay abstract meanings,

    來表達抽象的意義,

  • however it also stands alone for the actual Chinese ideograph "heart".

    但它也是一個獨立的象形文字,表示"心"。

  • The pronunciation of the components is worth learning

    部件的發音是值得學習的,

  • for they sometimes provide clues to the pronunciation

    因為有時候部件的發音

  • of the character in which they occur.

    已經暗示了他們所在文字的發音。

  • This means that even if it's your first time to see a new Chinese character,

    也就是說,即使看到一個新的字,

  • you can probably guess what it means and also guess how to say the character

    如果你認得這些文字裡的部件,

  • if you recognize all of the smaller parts that are in the character!

    你也大概猜得到這個字的意思及發音,

  • All of the components within a character contribute to its meaning,

    每一個字裡的每一個部件都代表一個意義,

  • and about half of the time

    而有一半的機會

  • one of the components will carry the pronunciation of the entire character.

    其中一個部件便傳達了這個字的發音。

  • However, this doesn't occur consistently

    但是,這種情況發生的並不一致

  • because the spoken language existed far before the written language.

    因為口說語言比書寫語言早存在了好幾年。

  • When creating Chinese characters, drawing them to relay the meaning

    造中文字的時候,字跟意義間的關係

  • of the character took precedence over relaying their pronunciation.

    比字跟發音間的關係來的重要。

  • However, as the Chinese script has evolved through the centuries,

    然而,隨著中文字千百年來的演變,

  • scholars have occasionally added additional components

    學者有時會在字裡

  • to the original version of some characters in an attempt

    加入一些部件,

  • to clarify the character's meaning or pronunciation.

    讓字的意思或發音更清楚明瞭。

  • It should also be noted that due to the evolution of the spoken Chinese language

    值得一提的是,隨著中文口語的演變,

  • sometimes the character is no longer pronounced the way it once was,

    有時人們也不再依照古時的發音,

  • and thus the phonetic clue - if present at all -

    所以,原本可能提供發音的線索, --如果存在的話--

  • may not be completely accurate.

    也不完全正確了。

  • The red component provides the character's pronunciation

    紅色的部件是這個字的發音,

  • Alright, you get the idea of how Chinese characters work.

    好了,你現在了解中文字是如何形成的了,

  • Now let's talk about numbers.

    那麼來看一些數據吧。

  • People often ask how many Chinese characters there are.

    人們常問到到底有多少個中文字,

  • Different sources give different numbers.

    不同的來源提供不同的數字,

  • One of the most famous dictionaries in China, the Kangxi dictionary,

    其中,在中國最有名的字典, 康熙字典,

  • contains over 47,000 characters.

    收錄了超過47,000個中文字。

  • The Taiwan Ministry of Education has been working to standardize

    台灣教育部從1980年代

  • traditional Chinese characters since the 1980's

    就開始致力於讓繁體中文標準化,

  • and to date they have published a total of 48,172 characters.

    到目前為止, 已經建立了48,172個中文字了。

  • The recently published Hanyu Da Cidian lists over 60,000 characters.

    最新出版的"漢語大辭典"列舉了60,000個字。

  • If we look at computer encoding, due to the necessity to type Chinese characters

    以電腦打字來說,為了打出中文字,

  • we find that Unicode 5.0 has approximately

    Unicode 5.0的字表裡

  • 70,000 Chinese characters in its tables.

    有將近70,000個中文字。

  • And lastly, the 5th official version

    最後,正式的第五版異體字字典

  • of the Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants contains 106,230 characters.

    包含了106,230個中文字。

  • The good news is you don't really need to learn all of them.

    好消息是,你不需要真的學會每一個字,

  • The Taiwan Ministry of Education has published

    台灣教育部編印了一個清單,

  • a list of 4,808 most frequently used traditional Chinese characters,

    列出最常用的4,080個中文繁體字,

  • followed by an additional 6,341 second most frequently used

    另外有次常用的6,341個

  • traditional characters.

    中文繁體字。

  • In Hong Kong, the Education and Manpower Bureau

    香港教育局

  • established a list of 4,759 most frequently used traditional characters.

    列出了最常用的4,759個中文繁體字。

  • And in Mainland China,

    在中國大陸,

  • the Chart of Common Characters of Modern Chinese only contains

    現代漢語常用字表

  • 3,500 in its list.

    只包含了3,500個字。

  • The point is, these characters cover 99% of a 2 million word sample,

    重點是,這些字囊括在 兩百萬字樣本中的99%,

  • which means that to be considered "literate",

    也就是說,你只需要

  • one really only need to recognize 3,500 simplified characters

    認識3,500個簡體字,

  • or 4,800 traditional characters.

    或4,800個繁體字,就代表"識字"了。

  • Phew!

    太好了!

  • So there you have it!

    就是這樣了!

  • Just by having watched this presentation you are already

    光是看了這個介紹影片,

  • way ahead of the race because you understand

    你就已經領先了,

  • that Chinese characters are much more

    因為你已經知道中文字不只是

  • than just a sequence of lines to be memorized.

    一連串需要背起來的線條。

  • A Chinese character is a picture

    一個中文字是由

  • created by combining several simpler pictographic components.

    許多部件組合成的一個象形圖片。

  • These simpler pictographic components are the "building blocks"

    這些簡單的象形部件就是組成中文字的積木,

  • of Chinese characters, just like alphabets are the building blocks

    就像拼音文字中,

  • of phonetic languages.

    英文字母是組成英文字的積木一樣。

  • We hope you enjoyed this "pictographic" video presentation!

    希望你會喜歡這個"象形"的介紹影片。

  • To learn how to use the intrinsic building block nature

    為了瞭解如何使用

  • of Chinese characters to your advantage in order

    這種中文字積木的特性

  • to quickly learn huge amounts of Chinese characters,

    並快速地學會大量的中文字,

  • watch the next video "The ABCS of Chinese Teaching Methodology".

    請看接下來的影片 "The ABCs of Chinese Teaching Methodology",

  • It will forever change your approach to learning Chinese characters!

    它會徹底地改變你學中文的方法。

  • And if you're just starting out or considering if you want to study

    如果你才剛開始學中文, 或正在考慮是否要學,

  • Chinese or not, already living in Asia and functionally illiterate,

    或者目前住在亞洲國家但是個"功能性文盲",

  • or studying Chinese in university be sure to watch the 3rd segment,

    或者目前在大學裡學中文, 那麼就要看第三段影片,

  • "The Importance of Learning Chinese".

    “The Importance of Learning Chinese” (學中文的重要性)。 �

Let's talk about Chinese characters.

我們來聊聊中文字吧!

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