字裏有「龜」初長成 筆畫雖多不難認
你曾埋怨過祖先們為甚麼把「龜」字弄得如此複雜艱難嗎？但如果你把這個字橫放過來看，會發覺龜的頭、身、殼、腳、尾一應俱全，活靈活現。
這個小龍洞裏，埋藏了世界上最古老而獨特的文字 — 漢字。
最早的漢字，是商朝時人們刻在龜甲和獸骨上像圖畫的甲骨文，距今已有三千多年的歷史﹗相傳是黃帝史官倉頡根據鳥獸和事物的形狀所創造的。然而，今天我們書寫的方塊漢字其實是經過許多朝代不同人的創造和改良，由像圖畫符號的甲骨文、金文逐漸演變而成的。
其實漢字大部分都是根據「象形」、「指事」、「會意」、「形聲」、「假借」和「轉注」六種原則來創造的。最後一種「轉注」太深奧了，我們暫且不來研究。看看用前五種方法來造的漢字例子，你必會發覺原來它們是這麼有趣的﹗
Hidden deep inside this Dragon Cave are examples of the world’s oldest and most unique writing script – the Chinese characters.
The earliest Chinese characters, called Shell and Bone Inscription, were pictographic symbols carved onto turtle shells and animal bones by Shang Dynasty people more than three thousand years ago! Legend has it that Chinese characters were invented by Cang Ji, the Master Chronicler of History for the Yellow Emperor, in the forms of figures of birds, animals, and objects. Of course, “Cang Ji’s Invention of Characters” may only be a fairy tale. The block-shaped characters we use today are the result of constant innovation and improvements by many people in different historical periods, and are gradually evolved from the pictographic symbols of the Shell and Bone Inscription, and the Bronze Inscription.
字裏有「龜」初長成 筆畫雖多不難認
你曾埋怨過祖先們為甚麼把「龜」字弄得如此複雜艱難嗎？但如果你把這個字橫放過來看，會發覺龜的頭、身、殼、腳、尾一應俱全，活靈活現。
A turtle in the character, complicated though as it seems, the meaning is plain and full for all to see.
Have you ever complained about why our ancestors made the traditional character script for turtle(龜) so complicated? Well, if you turn this character on its side you will find it has everything a turtle has, namely, the head, the body, the shell, the feet, and the tail. Lifelike and vivid is the only way to describe it!
樹根樹梢若分明 「本」「末」倒置不容易
「本」「末」這兩個意思相反的抽象概念是很難用圖畫畫出來的。祖先們於是用指事的方法，在「木」字似樹根的下面地方加上一畫，表示基本、最初的意思，那就是「本」字；而在似樹梢的上面地方加上一畫，表示最後，那就是「末」字。
If you can distinguish between the stem and leaf of a tree, you will not put the cart before the horse.
The “Core” (本) and the “Periphery” (末) are two contrasting abstract concepts that would be very difficult to describe by drawing a picture. Our forefathers solved this problem by using the Allusion Method: putting a mark at the bottom of the character for “Wood” (木), like denoting the root of a tree to give the idea of “Main Part”, which became the character for “Core” (本); while placing a mark onto the top part of the character for “Wood”, to mean End, Ultimate or Last, which gives rise to the character for “Periphery” (末).
肥肉哪裏「有」？ 把酒問青天 ﹗
「有」字由兩部分組成，上面是「手」字，下面是代表獸身一部分的「肉」字，千萬別以為這是一個月字。我們的祖先認為手裏挽著肉，才代表「有」。天上的明月雖然像塊肥肉，但卻無可能給我們像野獸般打獵下來拿在手中﹗
So possession is to be found in a piece of meat?
The character for “Possess” (有) consists of two components, namely, the upper radical for “Hand” (手), and the lower radical representing “Meat” (肉) taken from the body of animal. Note this lower radical must not be mistaken for “Moon” (月). In the minds of our forebears, to “Possess” means we are holding a chunk of meat in our hand. So, although the Moon in the night sky may look like a piece of juicy meat, it obviously can never be hunted from an animal and held in our hand!
「舅舅」為甚麼會有一個小兒子的頭蓋骨？
「臼」代表幼童尚未完全長成縫合的頭部，為甚麼「舅」字上面會有這個特別脆弱的頭部呢？難道舅舅的「腦筍還未生埋」？當然不是﹗其實「舅」字是一個典型的形聲字，下面的「男」表示他是一個男性，上面的「臼」只表示讀音，與頭蓋骨毫無關係﹗
How come the words for “Uncle” (舅舅) have infant children’s skulls on top?
The radical “臼” represents an infant skull before it is fully closured. Why does it appear on top of the characters for “Uncle” (舅舅)? Does it mean uncles’ skulls are not fully matured? Of course not! In reality, the script for “Uncle” is a typical Tonal Emulation Character. The lower radical for “Male” (男) means he is a man while the top radical (臼) is taken because of its pronunciation.
我「亦」有兩個胳肢窩
「亦」字本是指胳肢窩的意思，相等於「腋」字。不信？你看「亦」的早期字形，是在一個正面人形(「大」字)的胳肢窩下加上箭咀般的指示符號，表示「我是指這個部位啊」，是一個指示字。但後來，「亦」字被借了去表示「也是」的意思，而且從此不再回頭，變成一個假借字，而它「胳肢窩」的本義就由「腋」字專任了。
I “Also”(亦) have two armpits
The original meaning for the character “Also” (亦) is armpit, equivalent to the present-day character for “Armpit” (腋). The early form of the “Also” character was written as a forward facing man with outstretched arms i.e., “大”, like the character for “Big”, plus two arrowhead-like markings added to the armpits, almost like crying out, “I want to indicate this position”. This is a typical Allusion Character. However over time, this original Armpit character is transplanted to the new usage of “Also”, and it was never changed when the new Armpit character of “腋” was introduced. The character “亦” has then become a Phonetic Transplant Character.
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