Chinese characters, also known as hanzi, are logograms used in writing Chinese, Japanese and some other East Asian languages. Unlike alphabets that represent sounds and combine to form words, Chinese characters represent meaning or words directly. Each Chinese character has its own specific meaning and pronunciation. While some characters contain hints as to their meaning, many do not. So how does one go about finding out the meanings of Chinese characters that they encounter? There are several methods that can be utilized.
Lookup in a Chinese Dictionary
One of the most straightforward ways to find the meaning of a Chinese character is to look it up in a Chinese dictionary. Both paper and digital Chinese dictionaries are organized by radicals, which are the parts of characters that indicate its general meaning, and stroke count. With a Chinese dictionary, you can look up a character by its radical and number of strokes in order to find the meanings, pronunciations, and additional information.
Some popular Chinese dictionaries include the Oxford Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary, the Collins Chinese Dictionary, and the Commercial Press Chinese Dictionary. There are also numerous digital Chinese dictionaries available both online and as smartphone apps, such as Pleco, Trainchinese, and Mandarin Companion Dictionary. These digital dictionaries allow you to draw Chinese characters with your finger or stylus to look them up quickly and easily.
Use an Online Chinese Dictionary or Translation Site
If you do not have access to a physical Chinese dictionary, online Chinese dictionaries and translation sites are another fast way to look up characters. Resources like MDBG Chinese Dictionary, Yellowbridge, and Line Dictionary allow you to type or handwrite Chinese characters using a mouse, trackpad, or touchscreen and will provide definitions in English.
Some sites like Mandarin Spot even allow you to draw the character using your finger or mouse to look it up. These online dictionaries will show you the meaning, pronunciations, stroke order, and additional usage information for any Chinese characters you search. They are extremely useful for quick character lookups on your computer or smartphone.
Use the Camera and OCR to Look Up Characters
Smartphone apps that utilize optical character recognition (OCR) and your phone’s camera provide another avenue for looking up unknown Chinese characters easily. Apps like Pleco, Trainchinese, and Hanping Chinese Dictionary allow you to take a photo of a Chinese character and will instantly recognize the character and provide information on it.
This makes discovering the meaning of Chinese text in books, signs, or handwritten notes fast and simple. Just open the dictionary app, point your camera at the character, and you’ll have the definition in seconds. The OCR functionality in these apps works for both printed and handwritten Chinese characters.
Ask a Native Speaker or Teacher
Speaking to a native Chinese speaker or teacher is one of the most helpful ways to find out what Chinese characters mean. They will be able to provide the meanings, context, pronunciations, and example sentences to help you thoroughly understand unfamiliar characters. Apps like HelloTalk also make it easy to quickly get Chinese character meanings from native speaker users.
If you have Chinese-speaking friends, coworkers, or acquaintances, don’t be afraid to ask them about characters you encounter. Getting the perspective of a native speaker can provide additional nuance and usage information beyond just dictionary definitions. They may even be able to provide interesting culturally-relevant examples of the character in use.
Look at Radicals, Components and Phono-Semantics
While the methods above allow you to lookup Chinese characters easily, analyzing the characters themselves can also provide useful clues into their meaning. Many characters are phono-semantic compounds, meaning they are composed of elements that indicate meaning and sound. Recognizing repeated semantic (meaning) and phonetic components can help remember characters and guess at their meanings.
Characters are also organized into radicals or classifiers which indicate the general meaning such as water, plant, or person. Knowledge of radicals and the most common semantic and phonetic elements will allow you to make educated guesses about unfamiliar characters encountered. With practice, you can learn to break down and analyze new Chinese characters to infer their purpose.
Use Flashcards and Spaced Repetition
Finally, consistently reviewing Chinese characters using flashcards and spaced repetition systems can help cement them in your long-term memory. Using digital flashcard apps like Anki and Pleco Flashcards along with paper flashcards enables repetition of important characters until they stick.
Focusing your reviews on radicals, common components, and characters within your vocabulary needs ensures you can quickly recall meanings upon encountering them. Maintaining your own database of characters through digital flashcards means you’ll always have the meanings handy when needed.
Conclusion
Discovering the meaning of new or unfamiliar Chinese characters is an essential part of the journey in Chinese literacy. Whether it’s looking characters up in dictionaries, asking native speakers, utilizing OCR technology, or analyzing radicals and components, there are now many effective methods to find the definitions you need. By leveraging the abundance of digital dictionaries and online resources, you can quickly decipher even obscure and complex Chinese characters. With the right tools and strategies for looking up and remembering Chinese characters, you can continually expand your understanding of this fascinating writing system.
