Five Second Hanja (13) Gate; Family (문-문)
gate, door: family, school, sect (문)
This was the first hanja character I learnt as being sat next to the emergency exit on my first flight to Korea, it stared down at me for some 12 hours. As a pictogram it is self explanatory.
door to attaining peace and harmony
winter scene
© 林東哲 2011 Creative Commons Licence.
Five Second Hanja (12) Winter – 겨울 – 동
winter
This character, meaning ‘winter,’ comprises two parts; the lower two strokes are what is known as the ‘radical’ and in this case signify ‘ice.’ These two strokes never appear independently as they are a compression of the original. ‘Ice’ in fact, contains 5 strokes in its full form. Radicals convey an important part of a character’s meanings and characters can be grouped according to them.
'winter' - 겨울-동
The ‘character’ above the lower two strokes, is really a pictograph which means ‘walking with legs crossed’ or ‘walking slowly.’ Together the implied meaning is ‘winter.’
winter clothes 동복
winter season 동계
Simply highlighting some of the important and simpler characters. For information on stroke order, radicals and the two elements of a character (spoken – meaning), I suggest you obtain a dictionary such as; A Guide to Korean Characters.
© 林東哲 2011 Creative Commons Licence.
Five Second Hanja (5) Day – 날-일 (sun, daily, Japan)
날-일-Day
Another easily remembered pictogram. With a slight twist of the imagination, ‘Day’ resembles the sun and is the character used for days of the week, eg: Friday – 금요일, and Birthday – 생일. It is also used for sun, Japan and daily.
Get the idea?
This series of posts is not aimed to teach hanja, I am not in the least qualified for such a task, but to simply highlight some of the important and simpler characters. For information on stroke order, radicals and the two elements of a character (spoken – meaning), I suggest you obtain a dictionary such as; A Guide to Korean Characters.
© 林東哲 2010 Creative Commons Licence.
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