ChinesePod
@ 41296 Using a Character Dictionary
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A: 哎，哎，哎 ......
ài, ài, ài ......
Agh, agh, agh...
B: 你怎麼唉聲嘆氣的？
nǐ zěnme āishēngtànqì de?
What are you moaning and groaning about?
A: 我想看中文報紙，可是這麼多字不認識！
wǒ xiǎng kàn Zhōngwén bàozhǐ, kěshì zhème duō zì bù rènshi!
I'd like to read a Chinese newspaper, but there are so many words I don't recognize.
B: 可以查字典啊！
kěyǐ chá zìdiǎn a!
You can look them up in the dictionary!
A: 中文字典太難查了。還要分析什麼部首。
Zhōngwén zìdiǎn tài nán chá le. hái yào fēnxī shénme bùshǒu.
Chinese dictionaries are too hard to use. And you have to analyze stuff like "radicals."
B: 其實沒你想的那麼難。認識幾個常用部首的話，查起來會方便些。
qíshí méi nǐ xiǎng de nàme nán. rènshi jǐ ge chángyòng bùshǒu dehuà, chá qǐlái huì fāngbiàn xiē.
Actually, it's not as hard as you think. When you recognize a few commonly used radicals, it's easier to look things up.
A: 哦，那你快教教我吧！
ò, nà nǐ kuài jiāo jiao wǒ ba!
Oh, then hurry up and teach me!
B: 沒問題。很多字的部首在左邊，比如 “ 打 ” 的部首叫 “ 提手旁 ” 。 “ 住 ” 的部首叫 “ 單人旁 ”。
méiwèntí. hěn duō zì de bùshǒu zài zuǒbiān, bǐrú " dǎ ” de bùshǒu jiào " tíshǒupáng ” . " zhù ” de bùshǒu jiào " dānrénpáng ”.
No problem. The radical in a lot of words is on the left. For example, in the character for " to hit ", the radical is called " the raising hand radical." In the character for " to live in, " the radical is " the single person radical."
A: 哦，單人旁像 “ 人 ” 字。
ò, dānrénpáng xiàng " rén ” zì.
Oh, the "single person radical" looks like the character for "person."
B: 對。“很”的部首也在左邊，叫“雙人旁”。看，有兩個撇。
duì." hěn” de bùshǒu yě zài zuǒbiān, jiào" shuāngrénpáng”. kàn, yǒu liǎng ge piě.
Right. And in the character for "very," the radical is also on the left. It's called "the double person radical." Look, it has two falling-left strokes.
A: 真有意思。
zhēn yǒu yìsi.
That's really interesting.
B: 再看這個 “ 冰 ” 字，它的部首叫“兩點水 ”。“ 酒 ”的部首呢，叫 “ 三點水 ”。
zài kàn zhè ge " bīng ” zì, tā de bùshǒu jiào" liǎngdiǎnshuǐ ”." jiǔ ” de bùshǒu ne, jiào " sāndiǎnshuǐ ”.
Now take a look at this character for "cold." The radical is called "two-dot ice." The radical in "alcohol”is "three-dot water."
A: 哦，單人旁，雙人旁，兩點水，三點水，還挺形象的。
ò, dānrénpáng, shuāngrénpáng, liǎngdiǎnshuǐ, sāndiǎnshuǐ, hái tǐng xíngxiàng de.
Oh-- "single person," "double person," "two-dot ice," "three-dot water." And they're actually pretty good depictions.
B: 好玩兒吧？你去拿一下字典。
hǎowánr ba? nǐ qù ná yīxià zìdiǎn.
Fun, huh? Go grab your dictionary.
B: 先看 “ 部首目錄 ” 。我們要根據部首查字。
xiān kàn " bùshǒu mùlù ” . wǒmen yào gēnjù bùshǒu chá zì.
First look at the "Table of Radicals." We look up characters by their radicals.
A: 這麼多！什麼時候才能學會啊！
zhème duō! shénme shíhou cáinéng xuéhuì a!
There are so many! When will I ever be able to master them all?
B: 除了我剛才教你的，還有一些你肯定認識。比如這個就是“木字旁”。
chúle wǒ gāngcái jiāo nǐ de, hái yǒu yīxiē nǐ kěndìng rènshi. bǐrú zhè ge jiùshì" mùzìpáng”.
Besides the ones I just taught you, there are definitely some you recognize. For instance, this one is the "wood radical."
A: 哦，原來一些簡單的字也是部首。哎，這些筆畫也算部首？
ò, yuánlái yīxiē jiǎndān de zì yě shì bùshǒu. āi, zhèxiē bǐhuà yě suàn bùshǒu?
Oh-- so some simple characters are also radicals. Ah-- do these strokes also count as components?
B: 沒錯。而且就算不知道部首，也可以查字的。
méicuò. érqiě jiùsuàn bù zhīdào bùshǒu, yě kěyǐ chá zì de.
Yes. And even if you don't know the radicals, you can still look up the character.
A: 哦，那怎麼辦？
ò, nà zěnme bàn?
Huh? How do you do that?
B: 合體字的話，你可以先把簡單的那部分當成“部首”。獨體字的話，可能它自己就是一個部首。
hétǐzì dehuà, nǐ kěyǐ xiān bǎ jiǎndān de nà bùfen dàngchéng" bùshǒu”. dútǐzì dehuà, kěnéng tā zìjǐ jiùshì yī ge bùshǒu.
With characters with multiple components, you treat the simple part as the radical. Characters with a single component might be radicals themselves.
A: 好！我現在就查查看。
hǎo! wǒ xiànzài jiù chá cha kàn.
Great! I'm going to look some up now!
B: 真是個急性子！我還沒教你怎麼查呢！
zhēn shì ge jíxìngzi! wǒ hái méi jiāo nǐ zěnme chá ne!
You're really impatient! I haven't taught you how to look them up yet!
Key Vocabulary
唉聲嘆氣 āishēngtànqì
字典 zìdiǎn
分析 fēnxī
部首 bùshǒu
提手旁 tíshǒupáng
單人旁 dānrénpáng
雙人旁 shuāngrénpáng
撇 piě
查 chá
常用 chángyòng
兩點水 liǎngdiǎnshuǐ
三點水 sāndiǎnshuǐ
形象 xíngxiàng
目錄 mùlù
根據 gēnjù
木字旁 mùzìpáng
筆畫 bǐhuà
合體字 hétǐzì
急性子 jíxìngzi
獨體字 dútǐzì
Supplementary Vocabulary
詞典 cídiǎn
康熙字典 Kāngxī zìdiǎn
偏旁 piānpáng
豎 shù
單身 dānshēn
慢性子 mànxìngzi
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