Ian_Lee Posted March 8, 2004 at 09:00 PM Report Posted March 8, 2004 at 09:00 PM Which one is the most easily mistaken Chinese character that you would easily put an extra stroke or write without the needed stroke? Quote
林彪 Posted March 8, 2004 at 10:55 PM Report Posted March 8, 2004 at 10:55 PM Definitely 未 (wei4) and 末 (mo4). Can you tell the difference? In wei4, the lower horizontal bar is larger. In mo4, the upper bar is longer. Quote
skylee Posted March 8, 2004 at 11:43 PM Report Posted March 8, 2004 at 11:43 PM Well then it follows that 日 and 曰 should also qualify (the former is taller and the latter is flatter). And then of course 己, 已, 巳 and 戌, 戊, 戍 are all very confusing. Quote
Ian_Lee Posted March 9, 2004 at 12:07 AM Author Report Posted March 9, 2004 at 12:07 AM 戌, 戊, 戍 I am ashamad to admit that I am still not too sure on how to pronounce (even in Cantonese) the above words if they come out individually. Quote
skylee Posted March 9, 2004 at 01:47 AM Report Posted March 9, 2004 at 01:47 AM 戌, 戊, 戍 I am ashamad to admit that I am still not too sure on how to pronounce (even in Cantonese) the above words if they come out individually. In Cantonese, we say 橫戌(恤), 點戍(恕), 戊(務)中空. In Putonghua, it would be 橫戌(xu1), 點戍(shu4), 戊(wu4)中空. And two of these three confusing characters appear in the term 戊戌政變 (aka 戊戌/百日維新). Quote
Guest Calvin_Sheng Posted March 9, 2004 at 03:21 AM Report Posted March 9, 2004 at 03:21 AM actually, as a chinese, i cannot pronounce and understand all of the characters below: 己, 已, 巳 and 戌, 戊, 戍 i know only 己 and 已, every time i met 巳 and 戌, 戊, 戍, just ignore and continue. ^__^ Quote
geek_frappa Posted March 9, 2004 at 03:24 AM Report Posted March 9, 2004 at 03:24 AM 覃 (qin2) <---- Surname 覃 (tan2) ... no difference between characters, but two different pronounciations. Quote
skylee Posted March 9, 2004 at 03:45 AM Report Posted March 9, 2004 at 03:45 AM 覃 (qin2) <---- Surname覃 (tan2) ... no difference between characters' date=' but two different pronounciations.[/quote'] Well if these are also taken into account then it would be very complicated. Take a most common word 樂. It is le4 when it means happy; yue4 when it means music (and both are surnames); and yao4 when it means enjoy (e.g. 敬業樂群; 仁者樂山, 智者樂水). In cantonese, the three pronunciations are lok9, ngok9, and ngau6 respectively. (I love my dear new dictionary ) How about 刀 and 力; 兔 and 免? Are they not confusing enough? Quote
geek_frappa Posted March 9, 2004 at 03:55 AM Report Posted March 9, 2004 at 03:55 AM those are good ones. how about these, too? 幸 (xing4) 辛 (xin1) 3 Quote
xoyopai Posted March 9, 2004 at 06:31 AM Report Posted March 9, 2004 at 06:31 AM 人 (ren2) - people 入 (ru4) - enter Hope you have already known them. Quote
skylee Posted March 9, 2004 at 10:06 AM Report Posted March 9, 2004 at 10:06 AM Yes, and these too - 淮 (huai2) vs 准 (zhun3) 治 (zhi4) vs 冶 (ye3) 千 (qian1) vs 干 (gan1) Quote
Lu Posted March 10, 2004 at 01:18 PM Report Posted March 10, 2004 at 01:18 PM 'Heaven' (天 tian1) and 'dying young' (forgot the pronouniation so can't type it...). Quote
geek_frappa Posted March 10, 2004 at 01:48 PM Report Posted March 10, 2004 at 01:48 PM 'Heaven' (天 tian1) and 'dying young' (forgot the pronouniation so can't type it...). 天 (tian1) and 夭 (yao1) can be confused. Quote
skylee Posted March 10, 2004 at 02:04 PM Report Posted March 10, 2004 at 02:04 PM Actually they look almost the same in the post above. Quote
xoyopai Posted March 10, 2004 at 02:24 PM Report Posted March 10, 2004 at 02:24 PM 刀 (dao1) - knife 刃 (ren4) - blade 刁 (diao1) sly ------------------------------------- 桶 (tong3) - bucket 俑 (yong3) 兵马俑 (bing1 ma3 yong3) - terracotta warriors and horses ------------------------------------- 干 (gan4) - do, work 于 (yu2) - for, of ------------------------------------- 甲 (jia3) - first 由 (you2) - because, due to 田 (tian2) - field ------------------------------------- 再 (zai4) - again 冉 (ran3) one of surnames 冉冉 (ran2 ran2) - gradually ------------------------------------- 孑 (jie2) 孓 (jue2) 孑孓 the babies of mosquito hehe, it's so confusing. :-P Quote
skylee Posted March 10, 2004 at 02:24 PM Report Posted March 10, 2004 at 02:24 PM How about - 若 (ruo4) vs 苦 (ku3) 鼓 (gu3) vs 豉 (chi3) Quote
39degN Posted March 10, 2004 at 04:08 PM Report Posted March 10, 2004 at 04:08 PM maybe 石(shi2) and 右(you4)? 力(li4) 刀(dao1) 大 and 太? actually they are the same thing in ancient chinese Quote
39degN Posted March 10, 2004 at 04:31 PM Report Posted March 10, 2004 at 04:31 PM oops, 故(gu4) and 敌(di2) 竞(jing4) and 竟(jing4) Quote
林彪 Posted March 11, 2004 at 06:46 AM Report Posted March 11, 2004 at 06:46 AM Also 幸 (xing4) and 幸 (nie4). These are listed in the Zhongwen Zipu as different characters, but apparently, there's no graphical difference between them. I think they're two different characters that over the years have evolved to look exactly the same, despite the fact that they have different etymologies. There's also 茶 (cha2) and 苶 (nie2), 士 (shi4) and 土 (tu3), 鳥 (niao3) and 烏 (wu1). There are a bazillion of them. Which is one of the reasons why Chinese is such a hard language to learn to read and write. Quote
skylee Posted March 11, 2004 at 09:04 AM Report Posted March 11, 2004 at 09:04 AM Also 幸 (xing4) and 幸[/size'] (nie4). I have reservation about the latter pronunciation. What is the source please? Quote
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