Exploring Chinese Characters: From Origin to Formation

1. Unit 2 Project The development of Chinese characters

2. Let’s enjoy a video clip of the interesting and charming Chinese characters .

3. Can you make out any of these Chinese characters?

4. 战国文字 甲骨文 金文 小篆 Bronze Inscriptions Oracle Bone Inscriptions Lesser Seal Characters

5. Running Script 行书 楷书 Formal Script 王曦之《兰亭序》

6. 马 The development of Chinese characters

7. Learning aims: 1.You will learn about the development and formation of Chinese characters 2.You will design a booklet to explain the Chinese character by the way it forms .

8. para1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p1 p1 p2 p3 p4 p1 p2 p4 p2 p3 p5 p3 p5 p4 p5 Skimming • Find out the whole structure A B D C

9. Part 1 Para.1 Part 2 Para.2 L10 Part 3 Para.2-4 Part 4 Para.5

10. Main idea • The origin of Chinese characters. • Simplified Chinese characters. • C. Brief introduction of Chinese characters. • D. Form and development of Chinese characters. Para.1 Para.2-4 C D Para.2 Para.5 A B

11. Careful reading Part1(para1) What makes the Chinese language differ from many Western languages? The Chinese language differs from Western languages in that, instead of an alphabet, it uses characters which stand for ideas, objects or deeds.

12. Careful readingPart2(p2-4) Who is said to have invented Chinese characters? What fired his idea of inventing Chinese characters? Cang Jie saw the tracks of animals in the snow and he got the idea he could use different shapes or pictures to represent objects.

13. 仓颉也称苍颉，是传说为黄帝的史官，汉字的创造者。传说中仓颉生有“双瞳四目”。目有重瞳者，中国史书上记载只有三个人，虞舜、仓颉、项羽。虞舜是禅让的圣人，孝顺的圣人，而仓颉是文圣人，项羽则是武圣人。

14. Careful readingPart2(p2-4) 2. Four types of Chinese characters • 山Represent________ • 休Express _______ • 上、下Express___________________ • (4) 姥、帽One part of a character indicates the ______ and the other suggests the _________. objects pictographs象形字 ideas Ideographs会意字 directions or numbers Indicatives指事字 meaning pronunciation Pictophonetic形声字

15. 象形字 Sheep Moon Mountain Sun Human Woman

16. 象形字: drawings of physical objects 鱼 燕 泉 木 网 舟 禾 车

17. What character is this ? kid

18. 会意字 combine two or more characters man + tree = rest

19. Examples: 家 采 尖 旦

20. 形声字 One part indicating meaning + the other suggesting pronunciation 砖 编 聆 骂

21. Let’s design our booklets! Booklet is a small book with a paper cover that contains information about a particular subject.

22. Preparing 1. the characters your group would like to research 1. Introduction 2. the Internet/ books/ TV/ radio… 2. Method 3. Findings 4. Conclusion

23. 1. The character for… was at first… , then became…, and over time turned into… 2…. be made by combining … and … together … be made up of the characters for…and … … be formed with… 3. The left/right/upper/lower part indicate … and the other suggest… Useful expressions:

24. How are Chinese characters formed? Conclusion: When people in (ancient) China wanted to express their ideas, they use drawings of physical objects combine two or more characters together have one part of a character indicating the meaning and the other suggesting the pronunciation

25. A possible example: against a tree; with a mountain 仙xian (hermit or immortal), a person secluded in a mountain. Character: Method:the Internet Conclusion: People in ancient chinacombined two or more elements together when they wanted to express their ideas. Findings: It shows a person in a profile, standing upright with arms hanging down. In another interpretation a person is marching with two legs. The character, often in a slender form, appears in many composite characters: with a tree 休 xiu (rest), a person resting My booklet

27. Pictograph Sun Moon Sheep Mountain 象形字 Human Woman Bull

29. 会意字

30. 会意字的练习 Please move the boxes around to make a character to match the English word. sit man rest good forest 森 坐 男 休 好 子 力 田 人 木 人 人 土 木 木 木 女

31. What character is this ? Good

32. Thank you!