Some discussions with my students

Some discussions with my students
Dear Adam:
Thanks for the email. You have done an excellent job. You have clearly described your ‘problems’, and it is a great achievement.
“I have a fleeting feeling that many of the combinations admit of more than one interpretation. ... I feel like I am still a long way from reading the characters from their faces.”
For the more than one interpretation: This issue can be viewed in two way.
One, the creator for a word did not spent too much time to thinking through all the possibilities (the interpretation). That is, it is usual a direct reading of a set of semantic roots. So, the rule of parsimony takes the dominance.
Two, at those days, the dictionary (although already available before Confucius) is not widely available. Thus, the meaning of every new word must be readily readable by others (the reader, not the creator). Again, it should be read directly from the semantic roots with parsimony again as the dominant rule.
With the two reasons above, any second thought (beyond the first impression) is in general not the right one. There is only one exception on this. That is, when the ‘direct and first impression’ reading was used by another word, then you need to go the second steps. In this case, you must learn it. After all, this system does not mean that one does not need to ‘learn’ any more. I will give one example here.
忘 [亡 (disappear) over 心 (heart)] = forget
忙 [heart + disappear] = busy
These two words in fact encompass two identical radicals (although with different topological arrangement). The choice of meanings follows the ‘taken away’ rule. When a choice is taken, the other must choice another. Yes, one must learn this.
I will go over the four examples of yours here.
偎 (to fondle - which is a homely kind of action): 人 + 畏 (fear). It can have a few direct read.
a. The person is in fear.
b. The person in fear lean beside a man.
Which one should be? Well, Chinese word has no parts of speech. That is, a word can be all parts of speech. So, 畏 can be a concept or a state (as noun, adjective, adverb or verb). Yet, it can also be the ‘person’. In general, all Chinese words are ‘person’ centered. So, in ‘usage’, the 畏 itself can be used as ‘person in fear’. That is, no ‘new’ word is needed for it. Yet, the second choice is a ‘state’ cannot be covered by the non-inflectional strategy.
Yes, when a ‘word’ stands alone, the above choices could be difficult to make. But, for a language, we are not reading ‘standalone’ word all the time. In a sentence (or word phrase), we can often make this kind of choice easy.
洋: 水 +羊.
a. A sheep made of water. (This is obviously nonsensical).
b. Water looks like a herd of sheep (covering the entire pasture)
忝; 天 fits almost as well as 夭
夭 is about ‘not upright’. So, 忝 is about the not-upright heart (now means ‘shameful’). This is a direct read. “a heart is humbled before the power of heaven” is not correct.
Or 舌 with flowing chi and perfection, both properties flowing and perfected energy points to the organ which endows us with the power of speech, since the top stroke has changed from 干).
Recognizing the ‘correct’ roots or radicals is not easy and must learned. This is one reason that this Chinese etymology was not known in China for over 2,000 years. No, we cannot arbitrary change the composite of an existing word. Of course, we can always ‘create’ our own new words.
Among my students, there are two types.
One, simple-minded: they read out the semantic ‘directly’, and they are correct over 90% of time.
Two, deep-thinker: they evaluates all interpretations, and they have hard time to make any choice.
Be confident, read words ‘directly’. Often, the direct meaning is different (or significantly different) from the ‘current’ usage, but the direct reading is almost always correct while the usage is the ‘extension’ or the ‘borrowing’ from the direct. In fact, this is another ‘skill’ one can master quickly.
Of course, you must read all “radical (roots)” correctly. Again, you must read the ‘largest’ semantic parts in a word (not all the way back to the root level). You might already read (http://chineselanguageetymology.blogspo ... ology.html ), please read it again.
Yours truly,
Tienzen
Dear Adam:
"A simple piece of advice about over-thinking seems to have helped a lot."
Confidence is the key for the decoding. The way of the decoding is ‘correct’ while the current dictionary meanings are just derivations of the direct decoding. Jason (my son) knew not a single Chinese word (written and verbal) before taking up my lessons. He used only 89 days and was able to face the media test (with many Chinese reporters). Those reporters had no mercy on him and selected the most difficult words to test him on the spot. In fact, he did not make a single one correct in terms of the current understanding by those reporters. But, before the test, I talked to him that if reporters say that his answers are not correct, he should ask them what the correct meanings for the words are. Then, he will show how wrong they are, as their understanding was very superficial and show them how those new usages (meanings) are only derivations (or borrowing) of the ‘decoding’ (the original meaning). This shocked all reporters with two facts.
One, Jason truly did not know the ‘current meaning’ of the words. That is, he did not cheat although he is my son.
Two, the way of Jason’s understanding of those words are genuine and way beyond ‘their understanding’.
With these two reasons, they reported that event as a genuine new breakthrough, not any kind of con artist. Now, you can review the 50 words of that media test. Over 90% Jason’s answers was not correct in accordance to the ‘current usage’ but was correct etymology. Please review {The entire test answer sheets are available here (http://www.chineseetymology.com/2009/12 ... rd-attempt )}.
“I feel like I'm not learning anything about the sound system. In my reading, I am not encountering the 300 sound tags (in unaltered form) all that often, and it is taking a lot of labour to keep reviewing the sound modules so as to keep them in my memory - since I'm not putting them frequently to use in my reading.”
The 300 sound modules have three purposes.
1. The entire Chinese “sound’-bandwidth has only 250 ‘four-tones’. The 300 sound modules provides 175 of those ‘four-tones’. By learning the ‘sound’ of those 175 ‘4-tones’, you set those sounds in your memory. That is, you should find a way to get these ‘sounds’ into your memory (such as with a Chinese-speaking friend, or get from a dictionary)
2. I used those 300 as ‘examples’ for decoding lessons for helping students to do their G1 lesson.
3. It will be the foundation for the third premise. Note: this is the most difficult one, and you should not put too much time in it for now.
“I am intent on mastering the third premise: the pronunciation of all Chinese words can be read out from their faces.”
This is the most difficult part and should not be a goal before you can ‘speak and read’ easily. Now, with
a. The knowledge of dissecting and decoding G1 words (over 1100 words), you should be able to learn 3000 commonly used words first and fast.
b. After those 175 ‘4-tones’ sounds in your memory, you should be able to pick up the verbal speaking easily with your ‘ears’ and ‘mouth’. Train your ears and mouth first and fast before thinking about the third premise.
Yours truly,
Tienzen Gong
Dear Adam:
Thanks for the email. You have done an excellent job. You have clearly described your ‘problems’, and it is a great achievement.
“I have a fleeting feeling that many of the combinations admit of more than one interpretation. ... I feel like I am still a long way from reading the characters from their faces.”
For the more than one interpretation: This issue can be viewed in two way.
One, the creator for a word did not spent too much time to thinking through all the possibilities (the interpretation). That is, it is usual a direct reading of a set of semantic roots. So, the rule of parsimony takes the dominance.
Two, at those days, the dictionary (although already available before Confucius) is not widely available. Thus, the meaning of every new word must be readily readable by others (the reader, not the creator). Again, it should be read directly from the semantic roots with parsimony again as the dominant rule.
With the two reasons above, any second thought (beyond the first impression) is in general not the right one. There is only one exception on this. That is, when the ‘direct and first impression’ reading was used by another word, then you need to go the second steps. In this case, you must learn it. After all, this system does not mean that one does not need to ‘learn’ any more. I will give one example here.
忘 [亡 (disappear) over 心 (heart)] = forget
忙 [heart + disappear] = busy
These two words in fact encompass two identical radicals (although with different topological arrangement). The choice of meanings follows the ‘taken away’ rule. When a choice is taken, the other must choice another. Yes, one must learn this.
I will go over the four examples of yours here.
偎 (to fondle - which is a homely kind of action): 人 + 畏 (fear). It can have a few direct read.
a. The person is in fear.
b. The person in fear lean beside a man.
Which one should be? Well, Chinese word has no parts of speech. That is, a word can be all parts of speech. So, 畏 can be a concept or a state (as noun, adjective, adverb or verb). Yet, it can also be the ‘person’. In general, all Chinese words are ‘person’ centered. So, in ‘usage’, the 畏 itself can be used as ‘person in fear’. That is, no ‘new’ word is needed for it. Yet, the second choice is a ‘state’ cannot be covered by the non-inflectional strategy.
Yes, when a ‘word’ stands alone, the above choices could be difficult to make. But, for a language, we are not reading ‘standalone’ word all the time. In a sentence (or word phrase), we can often make this kind of choice easy.
洋: 水 +羊.
a. A sheep made of water. (This is obviously nonsensical).
b. Water looks like a herd of sheep (covering the entire pasture)
忝; 天 fits almost as well as 夭
夭 is about ‘not upright’. So, 忝 is about the not-upright heart (now means ‘shameful’). This is a direct read. “a heart is humbled before the power of heaven” is not correct.
Or 舌 with flowing chi and perfection, both properties flowing and perfected energy points to the organ which endows us with the power of speech, since the top stroke has changed from 干).
Recognizing the ‘correct’ roots or radicals is not easy and must learned. This is one reason that this Chinese etymology was not known in China for over 2,000 years. No, we cannot arbitrary change the composite of an existing word. Of course, we can always ‘create’ our own new words.
Among my students, there are two types.
One, simple-minded: they read out the semantic ‘directly’, and they are correct over 90% of time.
Two, deep-thinker: they evaluates all interpretations, and they have hard time to make any choice.
Be confident, read words ‘directly’. Often, the direct meaning is different (or significantly different) from the ‘current’ usage, but the direct reading is almost always correct while the usage is the ‘extension’ or the ‘borrowing’ from the direct. In fact, this is another ‘skill’ one can master quickly.
Of course, you must read all “radical (roots)” correctly. Again, you must read the ‘largest’ semantic parts in a word (not all the way back to the root level). You might already read (http://chineselanguageetymology.blogspo ... ology.html ), please read it again.
Yours truly,
Tienzen
Dear Adam:
"A simple piece of advice about over-thinking seems to have helped a lot."
Confidence is the key for the decoding. The way of the decoding is ‘correct’ while the current dictionary meanings are just derivations of the direct decoding. Jason (my son) knew not a single Chinese word (written and verbal) before taking up my lessons. He used only 89 days and was able to face the media test (with many Chinese reporters). Those reporters had no mercy on him and selected the most difficult words to test him on the spot. In fact, he did not make a single one correct in terms of the current understanding by those reporters. But, before the test, I talked to him that if reporters say that his answers are not correct, he should ask them what the correct meanings for the words are. Then, he will show how wrong they are, as their understanding was very superficial and show them how those new usages (meanings) are only derivations (or borrowing) of the ‘decoding’ (the original meaning). This shocked all reporters with two facts.
One, Jason truly did not know the ‘current meaning’ of the words. That is, he did not cheat although he is my son.
Two, the way of Jason’s understanding of those words are genuine and way beyond ‘their understanding’.
With these two reasons, they reported that event as a genuine new breakthrough, not any kind of con artist. Now, you can review the 50 words of that media test. Over 90% Jason’s answers was not correct in accordance to the ‘current usage’ but was correct etymology. Please review {The entire test answer sheets are available here (http://www.chineseetymology.com/2009/12 ... rd-attempt )}.
“I feel like I'm not learning anything about the sound system. In my reading, I am not encountering the 300 sound tags (in unaltered form) all that often, and it is taking a lot of labour to keep reviewing the sound modules so as to keep them in my memory - since I'm not putting them frequently to use in my reading.”
The 300 sound modules have three purposes.
1. The entire Chinese “sound’-bandwidth has only 250 ‘four-tones’. The 300 sound modules provides 175 of those ‘four-tones’. By learning the ‘sound’ of those 175 ‘4-tones’, you set those sounds in your memory. That is, you should find a way to get these ‘sounds’ into your memory (such as with a Chinese-speaking friend, or get from a dictionary)
2. I used those 300 as ‘examples’ for decoding lessons for helping students to do their G1 lesson.
3. It will be the foundation for the third premise. Note: this is the most difficult one, and you should not put too much time in it for now.
“I am intent on mastering the third premise: the pronunciation of all Chinese words can be read out from their faces.”
This is the most difficult part and should not be a goal before you can ‘speak and read’ easily. Now, with
a. The knowledge of dissecting and decoding G1 words (over 1100 words), you should be able to learn 3000 commonly used words first and fast.
b. After those 175 ‘4-tones’ sounds in your memory, you should be able to pick up the verbal speaking easily with your ‘ears’ and ‘mouth’. Train your ears and mouth first and fast before thinking about the third premise.
Yours truly,
Tienzen Gong