How to Find Out What a Chinese Character Means
Chinese dictionaries are organized in a different way than English dictionaries. This is because Chinese characters don't include phonetic information like English words. As a result, it can be difficult to find a character's entry in a dictionary. Chinese dictionaries often include a radical index. A radical index organizes every Chinese character according the radical and number of strokes used to create them. If you do not know the pronunciation of a Chinese character, you must learn to use a radical index to find its meaning.
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Instructions
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Identify the character's radical. Radicals are the elemental building blocks of Chinese characters. The radical may be at the top, side, bottom or inside of the character, or the character may be a radical in itself.
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Find the radical in a dictionary's list of the 214 radicals. Radicals are organized according to the number of strokes used to compose them. Find the number of the radical, which will be between 1 and 214.
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Find the section of the radical index that includes all characters composed using the radical number you are looking for. If you are searching for a character using radical 45, go to section 45 of the radical index.
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Count the number of strokes used to compose the Chinese character, including the radical. Each radical section is organized according to the number of strokes used to compose characters. If the character has 14 strokes, search for the character in the section of characters with 14 strokes.
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Find the pronunciation of the Chinese character. The pronunciation is written in Hanyu Pinyin beside the character.
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Search for the character's dictionary entry using its pronunciation. The Chinese-English section of the dictionary is organized alphabetically. Read the character's entry to learn the character's meaning.
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Tips & Warnings
Chinese can be written using simplified or traditional characters. If you want to find the meaning of a traditional character, use a traditional character dictionary. Many simplified and traditional characters share identical composition, but many simplified characters use simplified radicals and reduced strokes.
Many radical indexes use Chinese numbers to organize characters. You will need to be able to read Chinese numbers to use some Chinese dictionaries.
Online Chinese dictionaries often have more English than paper dictionaries. This makes them more user-friendly for beginner students of Chinese.
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