Analysis of Chinese Characters (Dover Language Guides) [Paperback]

G. D. Wilder (Author), J. H. Ingram (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Language Guides | Publication Date: November 2, 2011

Far and away the most useful analysis of characters for both beginning and intermediate students. 1,000 most important characters are analyzed according to primitives, phonetics, and historical development. Traditional method offers mnemonic aid to students of Chinese and Japanese languages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; 2nd edition (November 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486230457
• ISBN-13: 978-0486230450
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #564,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting reading, poor real-world reference., March 7, 2001

By 

Dale Dellinger - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Analysis of Chinese Characters (Dover Language Guides) (Paperback)

This is an interesting book about the history of some 1002 characters. Each character is dissected into its radical and phonetic parts with etymology provided for each part and the combined whole. Originally published in 1922 and 1934 in China, so the characters are "traditional" and the phonetic spelling is unfortunately using the outdated Wade-Giles system (Beijing would be spelled "Peiching"). This book is better for browsing than for reference -- I've found it frustrating to try and look up words in it with only the alphabetical (Wade-Giles) and pure stroke order (not grouped by radical) indexes. It is also lacking any sort of English to Chinese index.

A major shortcoming of this book is that it doesn't really tell you how the characters are used. There are no examples and it ignores completely that Chinese characters usually don't stand alone but are used in combinations to form words.

A better all-around book that gives a short summary of the origin of each character plus can really be used for reference (and shows how character are combined to form words) is Rick Harbaugh's "Chinese Characters: A Genealogy and Dictionary".

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular book, December 27, 1998

By 

Moises Romanowsky ([e-mail]) (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Analysis of Chinese Characters (Dover Language Guides) (Paperback)

The book's only flaw is its use of a dated romanization, Wade-Giles, instead of pinyin. Otherwise it is a fascinating study of 1000 Chinese characters. The characters' parts are examined thoroughly and then we are shown how the joined pieces make up both the sound and meaning of the original character. I don't understand how such an interesting part of learning and understanding Chinese has been neglected. If you are learning Chinese, do not covet this book. Buy it! Now!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dated, but very useful, October 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Analysis of Chinese Characters (Dover Language Guides) (Paperback)

I have the 1974 printing, which is an unabridged reprinting of the 1934 second edition. Since the number of pages is the same as the current edition, I assume there are no changes.

The analysis is of traditional, rather than simplified characters, and the romanization system used is not Pinyin, but the older Wade-Giles. This makes the book of somewhat limited use to those trying to understand Chinese characters as they are written in the PRC, but it is still a very interesting work. It meets a need similar to that of Michael Rowley's Kanji Pict-O-Graphix, but for Chinese, rather than Japanese. (Rowley's book, however, is more accessable.)