Dshyk Shji

Lesson Twelve: The World

Zhnbi: Getting Ready

1. What is the world?
2. Can you identify the countries by their flags?
3. What do you think is the most telling feature to distinguish one country from another?

Xd mbio: Learning objectives

After participation in the activities of this lesson, the learner should be able to
Identify people by their nationalities and the languages they speak
Inquire about peoples foreign language competence and foreign travel experience
Respond to the above inquiries
Properly, fluently, and accurately understand and use in speaking and writing the following characters and
grammar points:
Hnz: Characters

Wnf: Grammar

! +

"

The functions of

! +

"

The functions of

"

The functions of and

! +
! +
! (*simplified and variant forms)
Jxng: Sentence Patterns
[35a]

A
(A is able to do xyz.)

do

xyz.

[35b]

A
to this degree

(A is able to do xyz this well.)

do

xyz.

[35c]

(A is able to do this much of xyz.)

do

this much of

M. Chu, 1

xyz.

12

12

. Kchng zhngdin: Main Text

I. Shji Ggu: Different Countries of the World
<a> Tng-Shu: Listening & Speaking
1. gug: national anthem
We have learned many things about China in the previous lesson. Chine is but one country of the world. In this
lesson, we are learning about other countries and other things about the world.

Shji shng yu hn du guji

There are many countries in this world.
We are familiar with these countries:

Zhnggu

China

Rbn

Japan

We have already learned that the Japanese name of the country Japan (pronounced as Nippon or Nihon in
Japanese) have been directly adopted into the Chinese language but, when said in Chinese, the Chinese
pronunciation of the characters, Rbn, is used. Similarly, the Chinese characters used for these two other
Asian countries listed below were also directly adopted from their native language expressions into the
Chinese language system. And, again, when said in Chinese, the Chinese pronunciation of the characters is
used:

Hngu

South Korea; Republic of Korea

Choxin

North Korea; Democratic People's

Republic of Korea
Following the same two-syllable preference, Japan is called Rbn rather than and N.

Korea is called Choxin rather than .

For countries other than China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea, especially Western countries, the
Chinese names for them are formed differently. Basically, Chinese characters were used to approximate the
pronunciation of the names of them. As Chinese has many homonyms, many characters share the same sound.
This allows the Chinese to choose the characters that sound similar to the original pronunciation of the name of
the country and at the same time carry positive, or at least inoffensive, meaning. For example, Germany in
Chinese is called (D Y Zh, with the three characters literally meaning virtue + idea + will,
which approximate the pronunciation of Deutschland). For many countries, one of the syllables, mostly the
first syllable, is used to represent the country in common use. In the case of Germany, the one syllable term
used is D, which is then attached to the word (gu, country) to form the common name for Germany:
Dgu. Thus,

M. Chu, 2

Dgu

Germany

# (Dyzh)

Ynggu

England

# (Ynggln)

Fgu

France

# (Flnx)

Migu

America

# (Miljin)

gu

Russia

12

# (lus)

However, there are exceptions. The following are some examples of countries whose commonly used Chinese
names do not follow the same two-syllable patterns:

Xbny

Spain

Ydl

Italy

Jind

Canada

Mxg

Mexico

Other names you want to add to the list:

__________________________________________________________________
We normally identify one country as our native country and other countries as foreign countries.

bngu

Ones own country; this country

wigu

Foreign country; abroad

2. Guq gug: Flag and National anthem

Mi ge guji yu zj de guq h gug.

Each country has its own flad and national anthem.

guq

flag (of a country)

Zhnggu guq

flag of China

Migu guq

flag of the USA

Rbn guq

flag of Japan

M. Chu, 3

N rnshi b rnshi zh sh nige guji de guq?

Do you recognize which countrys flag is this?

Ximian zhxi ne?

What about these below?

Zhnggu

Fgu

Rbn

Yurn jio Rbn guq tiyngq, jio Ynggu guq mzq.

Some people call the Japanese flag the Sun flag, and call the British flag the Mi-character flag.

Dgu
Have you seen these flags before? Do you know what they represent?

N zhdo bzhdo zh sh shnme guji de guq?

Do you know what countries flags are these?)

M. Chu, 4

12

Closely related to guq is this:

gug

national anthem

chng gug

sing the national anthem

Zhnggu gug hotng ma? Migu gug ne?

Is the Chinese national anthem pleasant to listen to? What about the American national anthem?

N hu chng shnme guji de gug?

Which countrys/countries national anthem do you know how to sing?

3. Rnmn: People
In Chinese language, people are associated with particular countries.

rnmn

the people

bngurn

natives of a country

wigurn

foreigners

ngurn

a person of which country; what

nationality

[name of the country] + = a person (or persons) from that country.

Just a few examples here

Zhnggurn

Chinese; natives of China

Rbnrn

Japanese (person); natives of Japan

Dgurn

German (person); natives of Germany

Migurn

American (person); natives of USA

Hngurn

S. Korean (person); natives of S. Korea

Jindrn

Canadian (person); natives of Canada

Mxgrn

Mexican (person); natives of Mexico

M. Chu, 5

12

12

Yu hndu Zhnggurn i h ch, y yu hndu Ynggurn i h ch.

There are many Chinese who love to drink tea and there are many English people who love to drink tea.

T bba sh Mxgrn, t mma sh Migurn..

His dad is Mexican but his mom is American.

T shu t sh wiguren. T shumishu t sh nigurn.

She said that she is a foreigner. Did she say which country she was from?

4. yyn wnz: languages

Similar to the affiliation between people and their nation, the afficliation between the language spoken by
people is related to their national affiliation.

(1) the [ hu] words:

bnguhu

spoken language of this country

wiguhu

foreign languages

nguhu

language of which country

[Name of the country] + hu = the spoken words or language of that country

Here are just

a few examples:

Zhngguhu

Chinese (spoken language)

Rbnhu

Japanese (spoken language)

guhu

Russian (spoken language)

Choxinhu

N. Korean (spoken language)

Xbnyhu

Spanish (spoken language)

Ydlhu

Italian (spoken language)

Wmende Fwn losh hushu Xbny hu, y hushu Ydl hu.

Our French teacher know how to speak Spanish and also know how to speak Italian.

M. Chu, 6

12

Wmen de Zhngwn losh hushu ydinr Rbn hu. T bhushu Hngu hu.
Our Chinese teacher can speak a little Japanese. He cant speak Korean at all.

hushu

know how to speak [a certain language]

(2) The [ y] words:

As we have learned, the predonminant and official language spoken in China is
Chinese (spoken) language
Hny

is not the name of a country but of the majority ethnic group that constitutes approximately 94% of
the Chinese population.
A couple of terms for language in general and foreign languages:
language
yyn

wiy

foreign language

[Name of the country] + y the spoken words or language) of that country

Here are some examples:

Ry

Japanese language

Fy

French language

Dy

German language

Yngy

English language

Russian language

Hny

S. Korean language

In cases when there is no clear-cut one-syllable country name, the multi-syllable country name is used:
N. Korean language
Choxiny

Xbnyy

Spanish language

Ydly

Italian language

We should also note the following exceptions:

The language spoken in Migu are these:

Miy

American English

Yngy

English

M. Chu, 7

12

Hndu Migu dxushng xu y-lingmen wiy.

Many American college students learn one or two foreign languages.

Zhngwnk de xushng xu shu hny, y xu xi hnz.

Students of a Chinese class learn to speak Chinese language and also learn to write Chinese characters.

Wde shyu xu Fy y xu Dy. T shu Fy hoxu, Dy bhoxu.

My roommate studies both French and German. She says that French is easy to learn but German is not.

(3) The [ wn] words:

For phonetic languages, oral expression is the main element of language. For Chinese, written expression is
considered primary. Therefore, in addition to the orally focused term for languages, Chinese has a parallel set
of terms for the meaning of language(s) that derived from the written aspect of the language. We already
know that Chinese is called Zhngwn. The difference between written and oral language of Chinese is
much greater than that of an alphebet language. Chinese written scripts not only include phonetic element but
also carries meaning. Therefore, wn refers to the language as a whole as well as its formal presentation or
written script while hu (above) and y (see below) refers to the oral expressions.
[The language of a country = (shorter) name of the country + ]

Zhngwn

Chinese language

Rwn

Japanese language

Fwn

French language

Dwn

German language

Yngwn

English language

wn

Russian language

Hnwn

S. Korean language

Choxinwn

N. Korean language

Xbnywn

Spanish language

Ydlwn

Italian language

Well, yes Migu is America, the country, but Yngwn is English, the language.
Similarly, the languages of Jind are generally Yngwn and Fwn.

M. Chu, 8

The generic term for foreign languages is:

wiwn

Foreign language(s)

Wigurn xu Zhngwn bti hoxu. Zhnggurn xu wiwn y bti hoxu.

Is it not easy for foreigners to learn Chinese. It is also not easy for Chinese to learn foreign languages.

N yu xu Zhngwn, yu xu Rwn ma?

Are you studying both Chinese and Japanese?

Miyu, w xinzi xu Zhngwn, miyou xu Rwn.

Not really. At this time I am studying Chinese but not Japanese.

Hnwn h Choxinwn yyng ma? [ yyng: to be the same]

Are the S. Korean language and N. Korean language the same?

Hnwn h Choxinwn bti yyng.

The S. Korean language and N. Korean language are not quite the same.

5. guj: international

Xinzi shjishng de rn du hn gunxn guj gunx.

Nowadays, people of the world are all concerned about international relationship.

Dji du xwng guj gunxi yuho, shji hpng nnng.

Everyone wishes for amicable international relationship and a peaceful and tranquil world.

M. Chu, 9

12

R-Mi zhjin de gunxi shbush b Zhng-Mi zhjin de gunxi yuho?

Is the relationship between Japan and U.S. more friendly than the relationship between China and U.S.?

guj

international; between countries

xwng

hope

gunx

peace; peaceful

nnng

peaceful; tranquil

M. Chu, 10

12

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<b> D-Xi: Reading and Writing

Note:

jigwn: Oracal-bone Script, 17th to 11th Centuries BCE

jnwn: Bronze-carving Script, 11th to 3rd Century BCE
dzhun: Majuscule Seal script, 8th-3rd Century BCE
xiozhun: Refined Seal Script, 3rd Century BCE to 1st Century CE

1.
1)

yng Flower; eminent; England

We have already learned that the top of the graphics are grass sprouts, which represent plantswith or
without flowersin general. The image as a whole portrays an exuberant plant. However, the character is
gererally interpreted as a phono-semantic combination, with representing its meaning category and with
(pronounced yng in modern Mandarin; see below) approximating its pronunciation.

Ynggu

UK; Great Britain; England

Yng-Mi wnxu

English and American literature

yngmng

wise; brilliant

?
?
Ynggu nwng shbush ywi yngmng de nwng
Is Queen of England a brilliant queen?

Zhige xuq Ll shng ymn Yng-Mi wnxu de k.

Lele is taking an English and American Literature course this sememster.

2)

yng: Center

The graphs indicate a person carrying a load on his shoulder. The meaning of center may come from the
person in the center. This may be the ancestral form of the character , the rice seedings that the man
carries on his shoulder to the field to be planted. was not found in the ancient scripts of ,
or , and it has the identical pronunciation as .

zhngyng

M. Chu, 11

central; center

zhngyng ynhng

12

Central Bank; central bank

Hn du guji du yu zj de zhngyng ynhng.

Many countries have their own central bank.

Zhnggu Rnmn Ynhng sh Zhnggu de Zhngyng Ynhng.

Peoples Bank of China is Chinas Central Bank.

3)

d: Virtue; Germany
()
()
()
Most ancient ancestors of the character consist of four components: (footstep or road) (a marker
of direction or some other sort), (eye) and (heart). Ancient meaning included ascend and virtue,
the latter of which is still a common meaning in contemporary use.

Dgu

Germany

mid

virtue

Gd

Goethe

What do you think is the meaning of

Your answer: _______________________________________________

Gd sh ywi yumngde Dgu wnxuji.

(Goethe was a famous German writer/litterateur.)

4)

: suddenly; Russia
The character is generally understood as a semantic-phonetic combination, with (human) representing its
meaning category and (pronounced w in modern Mandarin) approximating its pronunciation. Ancient
meanings include tilt, and momentary, the latter of which has continued to be a common meaning in
contemporary use.

gu

Russia

Bi'

White Russian; Belarus

M. Chu, 12

5a)

cho: toward; dynasty

5b)

zho: Morning

12

The graphs each includes two main components, one illustrates sun between grasses and the other showing the
water or boat sailing. Together, they may be interpreted as going toward and morning visit, thus the
meaning having an audience with the king and paying a pilgrimage to.

shngcho

go to the (palace) court

choshng

facing upward

chonn

toward south; facing south

chowi

toward the outside

Hncho

Han Dynasty

Mngcho

Ming Dynasty

Choxin

North Korea [*Notice also how the 2nd

syllable is pronounced]

zhor

morning sun

zhoq

morning freshness; youthful spirit;

vitality

Hndu Zhnggurn xhun zh cho nn de fngzi.

(Many Chinese like to live in a south-facing house.)

W tngshu Zhor Xnwn sh Rbn yumng de bozh.

I heard that Asahi Shimbun is a famous newspaper in Japan.

7)

hn: Korea; South Korea; (family name)

The graphs indicate a combination of a phonetic component(which contribute to the an sound) to
approximate the pronunciation and or to indicate the meaning of railing or enclosure. The character
was used for the fence over a well but is now only used as a proper noun, a family name or the name of
(South) Korea.

M. Chu, 13

Hngu

12

Korea; South Korea

Choxin h Hngu zi Zhnggu de dngbin, zi Rbn de xbin.

North Korea and South Korea are located to the east of China and to the west of Japan.

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Peoples and literatures are commonly distinguished by national identity in Chinese. Give three examples
for each of them?
Your answer:

_____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

Recall the versatile word/phrase-forming [(one syllable) name of a country + + =

language of that country] structure. Write three different languages using this structure:
Your answer:

_____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

M. Chu, 14

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2.

sh

7) Generation; era; lifetime

The ancient scripts illustrate an image that combines three tens. The character has been used for the meaning
of thirty years, one generation, and extended to mean a lifetime. In addition to its temporal
significance, the character has also been used as a spatial indicator, for the meaning of the world.
The numerical web lingo that we learned before, 52013, was an abreviated version of 5201314
representing W i n yshngysh . Thus, it may be understandable the
fact that the trasition between 2013 and 2014 had generated some unusual excitement among the young lovers
in the Chinese community and the count-down was followed by a thundering 2013-14.

yshngysh

whole life; entire lifetime

qsh

die; pass away

hush

later generations

lish

next life

hwi

beyond the mundane world

sshtngtng

four generations under the same roof

?
?
Shi shu t yshngysh mi zugu yjin hosh
Who says that he has not done even one good deed throughout his entire life?

T ninai sh qnin qsh de ma?

Was it last year that his grandma passed away?

Qinnin t jijie shngle xiobobao yhu, tmen ji jish sshtngtng le.

Two years ago when his older sister gave birth to a little baby, their family became one with four generations
together (under the same roof).

[: represent]

T yng r-ling-y-sn-y-s dibio i n yshngysh de ysi.
He uses 201314 (r-ling-y-sn-y-s) to represent the meaning of loving you the entire lifetime.

M. Chu, 15


8)

12

ji: boundary
The character may be originally the same as :
()
()
()
The symbol (planting field with crisscrose of footpaths and with boundary markers) might be added to
reinforce the concept of boundary or border.
Related to the fundamental concept of the character, boundary, we can easily make sense of the meaning of
these words:
boundary of a piece of land
dji

guji

national boundaries; national boarder line

jioji

having a common boundary; share a

border

also marks the inclusive range of a group, a professional circle:

cultural circles
wnhuji

wnxu ji

literary circles

kxuji

scientific circles

ynyuji

music circles

dinyngji

film circles; movie circles

By the same token, those who are outside of a group are collectively called:
outside; outside world
wiji

The most common word using is:

shji

world

Derived from the above are many other common terms, such as

shji shng

in the world

shjibi

World Cup

d-sn shji

the Third World

dtngshji

the World of Datong; the world of grand

harmony; Utopia

Dtngshji jish yge hpng kuil de shji.

The World of Datong is a peaceful and happy world.

M. Chu, 16


9)

12

zhu: continent
The character was first used exchangeably with and later referred particularly to larger inhabitable lands
surrounded by larger water bodies.

10)

Bi Mizhu

North America

Nn Mizhu

South America

j: boundary; between
and both have the fundamental meaning of boundary. However, while emphasizes what separates
two adjacent entities, emphasizes what connects them.

xioj

intercollegiate

guj

international

zhuj

intercontinental

jioj

social intercourse; communication

guj gunxi

international relations

Could you analyze how the expression was formed ?

interpersonal relationship
Your answer: _______________________________________________

Nmen xuxio yumiyu guj gunxi de k?

Does your school offer courses on international relations?

T xhuan jioj; rnj gunxi hn ho. Yhu ky zu gnggun fngmin de gngzu.

He likes to social and has good relationship with others. Later he should work in the field of public relations.

gnggng gunxi

public relations

gnggun

PR

M. Chu, 17

11)

12

y: second; Asia

()
()
()
()
It is difficult to see the connection between the ancient graphs and the primary meaning of the character.
X Shn (cir. 58-147CE) in his Shuwn jiz (Explaining and Analyzing
Characters, of 100 or 121 CE the first dictionary to systematically analyze the structure of characters)
viewed the graph to be an image of a hunchback and interpreted the meaning of the character as ugly.
Some others (c.f. http://www.zdic.net) interpreted the meaning of the graphs as the edge of
flower. The in is an abbreviated form of sound transcription for Asia (
Yxy).

Yzhu

Asia

Dngy

East Asia

yjn

Runner-up; second place

12)

fi: not; opposite of; non-

()
()
()
The ancient graphs illustrate something similar to , representing the idea of contrast or opposite. In both
classical and modern Chinese, we find that is commonly used for negation. In the word (see below),
the character is used to transcribe the sound of the second syllable of Africa.

Fizhu

Africa

Nnfi

South Africa

sh-fi

yes or no; right and wrong; true or false

sh-fi t

true-or-False question

fif

illegal; unlawful

fi...bk

Must; it must be; it wont do if not

Zhnggu, Hngu, Choxin, Rbn du sh Dngy guji.

China, South Korea, North Korea and Japan are all East Asian countries.

Nnfi h Zhng-Mi linggu do yu wijio gunxi.

South Africa has diplomatic relationship with both China and America.

M. Chu, 18

Zi Migu, bdo rshy su h ji sh fif de.

In the U.S., drink alcohol beverage before reaching twenty-one is illegal.

W jntin fi jindo n bk!

I must see you today!
Putting together, here are what we call the Worlds Seven Contenents:
Asia
Yzhu

Fizhu

Africa

uzhu

Europe

Bi Mizhu

North America

Nn Mizhu

South America

Dyng Zhu

Oceania

Nnjzhu

Antarctica

http://www.dreams-travel.com/abroad/map/

odly y jio ozhu. odly zi Dyng Zhu.

odly (Australia) is also called ozhu (Australia). Australia (odly) is in Oceania.

odly

Australia

ozhu

Australia

M. Chu, 19

12

12

<c> Fn-jin duzho: Character Simplification

Notes on Character Simplification:

1. (cosh kihu) method was used in the simplification of many of the -radical
characters of in this lesson: Adopting the short-hand cursive style ( cosh) of a traditional full-form
character or character component but linealizes the connected or tangled strokes into independent standard
style ( kish) stroke lines.

is simplified to

is simplified to
2.

(jb shnch), or Delete components, method of simplification was adopted in the

simplification process of . The simplified character kept the first and last components and removed the topright component.

3.

is simplified to

(yng ytz) method was adopted:

Using a variant character that has fewer strokes. The stroke reduction may have happened by connecting
adjacent strokes or eliminating some. This change is slight and casual and sometimes not included in the
simplification scheme. Sometimes this variant form simply uses a different stroke form here or there in the
character and does not even reduce the number of strokes.

has a variant form

has a variant form in the simplified character system

in the simplified character system

The simplified form uses a variant form of the character . The form used in the simplified character
system is different from that used in the traditional character system in two ways: (1) the top two components
in the traditional form are connected by one hng (horizontal stroke) and the stroke number is reduced
from four to three; (2) the last stroke is written as a n (right slanting stroke) rather than a din
(dot). The second type of variation stated above was also seen in the character set of .

M. Chu, 20

12

<d> Linx: Exercises

1. Bhu jigu: Character Strokes and Structures
(1) Traditional Characters: Trace and write to become familiar with the structure of characters

yng: center

: central

yng: eminent, England

d: virtue

: England

: German

: suddenly; Russia
: Russia

cho: toward; N. Korea
: N. Korea

hn: (S.) Korea

sh: generation; lifetime

ji: boundary

: S. Korea

: entire lifetime

: world

zhu: continent
:
S. America

j: boundary; between
: international

M. Chu, 21

y: second; Asia
: Asia

fi: not; non: right and wrong

12

1. Bhu jigu: Character Strokes and Structures

(2) Simplified Characters: Trace and write to become familiar with the structure of characters

yng: center

: central

yng: eminent, England

d: virtue

: England

: German

: suddenly; Russia
: Russia

cho: toward; N. Korea
: N. Korea

hn: (S.) Korea

sh: generation; lifetime

ji: boundary

: S. Korea

: entire lifetime

: world

zhu: continent
:
S. America

j: boundary; between
: international

M. Chu, 22

y: second; Asia
: Asia

fi: not; non: right and wrong

12

2. C y duyng: Matching words with meaning

(1) Write the Chinese equivalent of the following in characters (Pinyin may be used for the final six)
<i> England: _________________

<ii> English literature: _______________

<iii> central; center: __________________

<iv> Central Bank _______________

<v> North Korea: ________________

<vi> South Korea: _______________

<vii> Russia: ________________

<viii> Germany: _____________

<ix> entire life: ________________

<x> pass away: _____________

<xi> world: ________________

<xii> The World of Grand Harmony: _____________

<xiii> World Cup: ________________

<xiv> intercollegiate: _____________

<xv> international: ________________

<xvi> international relations: _____________

<xvii> PR: ________________

<xviii> illegal: _____________

<xix> Africa: ________________

<xx> Asia:_____________

<xxi> South Africa: ________________

<xxii> East Asia: _____________

<xxiii> Europe: ________________

<xxiv> Austria: _____________

<xxv> national flag: ________________

<xxvi> national anthem: _____________

<xxvii> hope: ________________

<xxviii> peace: _____________

M. Chu, 23

3. Hud wnt: Answer Questions

Write your answers and translate them into English.
(1)

_____________________________________________________________

(2)

_____________________________________________________________

(3)

[ uzhu: Europe]

_____________________________________________________________
(4)

_____________________________________________________________

(5)

[ zu: most]

_____________________________________________________________
(6)

_____________________________________________________________

(7)

[ guq: national flag]

_____________________________________________________________
(8)

_____________________________________________________________

M. Chu, 24

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