The Brain Dump

Here we go again . . . on our own . . . :

Monday

快 - kuai4 (lump, clod; a measure for dollars)
相 - xiang1 (mutually, each other), xiang4 (face, appearance; to examine)
想 - xiang3 (to think)
得 - dei3 (must), de2 (to get), de (a grammatical particle)
共 - gong4 (all together, collectively, joint)
尢 - you2 (still more; a family name)
就 - jiu4 (then; only; to go to; to go with)

Tuesday

历 - [no pronunciation] (radical 22); This is just the top and left slope-y part
历 - li4 (to pass through, to experience; calendar)
后 - hou4 (back, in back of)
直 - zhi2 (be straight; to keep on; be a certain length)
真 - zhen1 (be real, be true; truly)
歹 - dai3 (chip)
现 - xian4 (present, now)

Wednesday

在 - zai4 (be at, in, on); "现在" means "now"
食 - shi2 (food; to eat)
两 - liang3 (two; a tael [ancient unit of weight equaling 50 grams])
俩 - lia3 ([colloquial] two; some, several)
车 - che1 (car; family name)
辆 - liang4 (a measure for vehicles)
反 - fan3 (to turn back; to rebel)

Thursday

饭 - fan4 (cooked rice, food)
板 - ban3 (board; printing plate; a measure for editions; be "wooden" [lifeless])
片 - pian4 (slice, to slice, piece; an expanse), pian4, pian1 (card)
糖 - tang2 (sugar, candy); A very important doodle. . . .
话 - hua4 (speech, language)
舍 - she4 (home), she3 (to give up, to give charity)
事 - shi4 (affair, event)

Friday

歌 - ge1 (song)
各 - [no pronunciation] (follow/slow radical 65); Just the top part (not the box)
各 - ge4 (each; various)
客 - ke4 (guest)
乞 - [no pronunciation] ("top of 每 radical"); Just the top part
吃 - chi1 (to eat)
兴 - xing4 (happy), xing1 (to begin; family name)

Another week, another set of doodles. Here we go:

Monday

嗽 - sou4 (second syllable of "ke2sou4, "cough")
学 - xue2 (to study, to learn)
姓 - xing4 (surname/to be surnamed . . .)
名 - ming2 (name)
字 - zi4 (written character)
叫 - jiao4 (to call; to be called; to order a person to do something)
牛 - niu2 (cow)

Tuesday

告 - gao4 (to inform)
斤 - jin2 (ax)
诉 - su4, song4 (to inform); Evidently, you're supposed to use this one together with 告 to form "告诉," which means "to inform"
知 - zhi1 (to know)
首 - shou3 (chief; the head)
道 - dao4 (road; to say; the Way [as in Taoism/Daoism])
些 - xie1 (few)

Wednesday

位 - wei4 (position, standpoint; seat; a polite measure for persons)
支 - zhi1 (branch [of a tree]; to prop up; to draw [money])
技 - ji4 (skill; expertise or specialized training)
千 - qian1 (a thousand; a family name [rare])
英 - ying1 (be bold; flower [bookish]; a family name)
黑 - hei1 (black)
占 - zhan1 (to divine), zhan4 (seize; constitute)

Thursday

站 - zhan4 ([taxi-/bus-]stand, to stand)
店 - yan3 (lean-to), guang3 (be broad; a family name); This one is actually just the top dot and the top and left lines (without the "占")
店 - dian4 (store; inn)
点 - dian3 (dot, drop [of liquid]; to drip; a bit; feature; to light)
雨 - yu3 (rain)
零 - ling2 (zero; tiny bit)
页 - ye4 (head; leaf [of a book or notebook], page)

Friday

齿 - ling3 (to lead; neck, collar; main point)
半 - ban4 (half)
多 - duo1 (be numerous)
少 - shao3 (be few), shao4 (be young)
句 - ju4 (sentence; verse-line; measure for sentences and verse-lines)
够 - gou4 (be enough)
夬 - jue1 (archer's thimble), guai4 (to divide)

Doodle studies continue . . . My lack of grammar knowledge is beginning to weigh on me. I, of course, have no one to blame but myself, but I instead choose to blame pandas (lazy bastards). Christina and I have also designated Friday as our doodle study day, during which we'll try to retain all the things our tutor Cathrine has been giving us.

On a side note, Mandarin grammar is proving to be way easier to learn (when I bother to learn it) than, say . . . English grammar. For instance, I asked Cathrine how you change a verb to the future tense ("I will have") or the simple past ("I had"), and she replied, "Pfft . . . changing the verb . . . you just indicate the time to denote the 'tense' (e.g. "Yesterday, I have three books.")." Mandarin grammar really makes English grammar look like an asshole.

Anywho:

Monday

勹 - bao1 (to wrap)
的 - de (a suffix to nouns and pronouns: A 的 B means "A's B, the B of A;" a grammatical particle), di4 (bull's-eye)
包 - bao1 (to wrap; family name)
跑 - pao3 (run)
报 - bao4 (to hold in your arms, to hug; to have your first grandchild; to adopt a child; to cherish; to sit on eggs to hatch them; a measure for armfuls; [dialect] to consort with, to hang out with)
袍 - yi1 (gown [side-gown radical]); Just the left side of this one
饱 - [no pronunciation] (side-food radical); Just the left side of this one

Tuesday

饱 - bao3 (to be full, to have had enough to eat)
火 - huo3 (fire)
己 - ji3 (self; the sixth "heavenly stem" [used to enumerate headings in an outline])
已 - yi3 (already; to end, cease)
巳 - si4 (the sixth "earthly branch")
纪 - ji4 (write down; record; year; discipline), ji3 (to order, a family name)
记 - ji4 (to remember; to record; mark, sign)

Wednesday

吧 - ba (a sentence-final particle; indicates supposition [". . . , I guess"] or suggestion ["Maybe you should . . ."]), ba1 (snap! [onomatopoetic]; to draw [suck] on [e.g., a tobacco pipe]; bar [drinking place])
把 - ba3 (to grasp; a handful; to guard; a particle used to bring direct objects in front of the verb; a measure for things with handles [knives, teapots] or that you grasp [chairs, handfuls of rice, bunches of flowers])
爸 - ba4 (papa, father)
爪 - zhao3 (claws); The Wolverine doodle
爬 - pa2 (to crawl; to creep; to climb)
本 - ben3 (root; volume [book]; capital [money]; principal [money]; a measure for books)
对 - dui4 (to face; facing; to match; be correct)

Thursday

说 - shuo1 (to speak), shui4 (try to persuade)
姑 - gu1 (unmarried daughter; father's or husband's sister; temporarily; be lenient)
故 - [no pronunciation] (Knock radical); Actually just the right side of this one
故 - gu4 (be ancient; to die; cause; intentionally)
苦 - ku3 (be bitter)
重 - zhong4 (be heavy), chong2 (do over again, to repeat by mistake)
懂 - dong3 (to understand); "我不懂" is possibly the most useful sentence in Chinese

Friday

疋 - pi3 (bolt [of cloth])
是 - shi4 (to be, am, is, are; be right); This one's a tad important . . .
先 - xian1 (to precede; late [deceased])
生 - sheng1 (to bear [to give birth to])
亥 - hai4 (the twelfth "earthly branch," used in enumerations and to name two-hour periods of the day)
孩 - hai2 (child)
咳 - hai1 ("Depressing!" or "Regrettable!" or "Astonishing!;"), ke2 (cough, to cough; first syllable of ke2sou4, "cough")

I'm taking a rain check on tonight's doodles. I'm tired. I'll post them tomorrow.

This is not a cop-out . . . only a postponement.

Monday

谢 - xie4 (thanks)
橘 - ju2 (tangerine)
结 - jie2 (to tie together; knot), jie1 (to bear fruit)
熹 - xi3 (to enjoy, to give enjoyment to); This one actually doesn't use the four dots on the bottom, but I couldn't find that version of the character
欢 - huan1 (be pleased)
足 - zu2 (foot; be sufficient)
跟 - gen1 (heel; to follow, to go with; with)

Tuesday

青 - qing1 (be green or blue)
请 - qing3 (to invite; please . . .); Yes, that's how it is in the book, ellipsis and all
情 - qing2 (emotion; circumstances)
清 - qing1 (be clear; to clear)
晴 - qing2 (clear sky)
睛 - jing1 (the pupil of the eye)
问 - wen4 (to ask for information)

Wednesday

闻 - wen2 (to hear)
间 - jian4 (space; be separated from; to separate, "drive a wedge between," sow discord, Yoko Ono), jian1 (between; a measure-word for rooms); I may have embellished this one. . . .
别 - bie2 (to separate, to part; Don't . . . !)
朋 - peng2 (friend)
友 - you3 (friend)
父 - fu4 (father)
毋 - wu2 (don't!)

Thursday

见 - jian4 (to see, to perceive)
亲 - qin1 (relatives; to hold dear; in person), qing4 (relatives by a marriage)
母 - mu3 (mother)
哥 - ge1 (elder brother)
吊 - diao4 (to pity)
弟 - di4 (younger brother; family name)
姐 - jie3 (older sister)

Friday

妹 - mei4 (younger sister)
纸 - zhi3 (paper)
长 - chcang2 (be long), zhang3 (to grow; be senior)
张 - zhang1 (to open out, to open up; a measure for objects coming in sheets; a family name)
画 - hua4 (to paint, a painting)
臼 - jiu4 (mortar)
白 - bai2 (be white; a family name)

Here they are, as promised. The doodles I am studying for this week (I'm pretty stoked as some of these (like the numbers) seem actually pertinent to my life):

Monday

都 - yi4 (city); Just the right side of this guy, looks like an ear . . . has nothing to do with an ear
都 - dou1 (all), du1 (metropolis, capital)
廾 - gong3 (clasped hands)
廿 - nian4 (twenty); Picture of two tens stuck together . . . though most just say "er4shi2" . . . which means twenty
或 - huo4 (perhaps; or)
匚 - fang1 (basket)
四 - si4 (four)

Tuesday

五 - wu3 (five)
六 - liu4 (six)
七 - qi1 (seven)
九 - jiu3 (nine)
什 - shen2 (the first syllable of shen2me, or "what?")
么 - me (the second syllable of shen2me, or "what?")
桌 - zhuo1 (table)

Wednesday

椅 - yi3 (chair)
东 - dong1 (east)
戋 - jian1 (to be thin)
钱 - qian2 (money; a family name)
浅 - qian3 (be shallow, superficial; be mild)
个 - ge4 (a "measure" used to enumerate nouns in the construction "number + ge4 + noun;" be individual)
文 - wen2 (pattern; language, literature, culture; civil (opposed to military); a family name)

Thursday

这 - zhei4, zhe4 (this)
那 - na4, nei4, ne4 (that [opposite of "this"])
合 - he2 (to join, to bring together)
给 - gei3 (to give; to allow; for [someone] . . .), ji1 (to supply)
有 - [no pronunciation] ("Top of 左"); Just the upper and left parts here--not the rectangular part
有 - you3 (to have; there is; there are)
干 - gan1 (shield; have to do with; be dry, be dried; be empty; emptily, futilely), gan4 (trunk, main part; to do)

Friday

走 - zou3 (to walk)
厂 - chang3 (factory)
刊 - dao1 (knife [side-knife radical]); Just the right side here
殳 - shu1 (club, to club)
没 - mo4 (inundate), mei2 (negates you3 and other verbs)
身 - shen1 (torso)
寸 - cun4 (thumb; inch)

Everybody still with me? So we can now count to ten, which means we can string 'em together and count to a hundred (Woo!). Actually, with this batch, I'm getting a little more optimistic on the whole "reading a single sign" front. More next week.

Alright, alright. I promised to post the other set of characters that I'm running through on Friday of last week and I didn't. So I'm a big, fat liar-face. Not that I imagine any of you are exactly vibrating with joy to see me list another thirty-five doodles. Well, whether you like it or not, today is Doodle Day, and to make up for my liar-face-ness, you'll get the rest tomorrow.

Here we go:

Monday

刀 - dao1 (knife); I'm told it looks like a knife . . . maybe if you're Chinese
分 - fen1 (to divide; a fraction; a very small part), fen4 (a component; a share, one's lot); This one's a picture of the knife cutting something in half
皿 - min3 (dish); I try to think of a dish drying rack . . . you find what works for you
立 - li4 (to stand; to cause to stand, to set up; to be standing; be upright, vertical; to exist, to live; immediate [right away, instant]); Yeah, I still have trouble with this one . . . I try to work the vertical thing . . . this doodle sucks
里 - li3 (village; lining; inside, in), li (1/3 an English mile)
理 - li3 (grain [e.g., of wood]; principle; reason, logic, truth; [by metonymy] natural science; to set in order; to speak to; to pay attention to); Mmmm . . . good luck with this one, too
中 - zhong1 (middle; Chinese), zhong4 (hit the middle, fit perfectly; be hit or affected by); This one's easy enough, and, since it means "China" when combined with 国, it's friggin' everywhere

Tuesday

钟 - zhong1 (clock; family name); A metal zhong . . .
表 - [no pronunciation], this one's actually just the top part, and is called "top of 青"--I like a language that's practical
表 - biao3 (to show; be on the surface, be external; list, form; meter, gauge; watch [timepiece])
国 - guo2 (nation)
羊 - yang2 (sheep, goat; a family name); Supposed to be a picture . . . whatever
外 - wai4 (outside; relatives of one's mother, sisters, or daughters); Still wrapping my head around this one
看 - kan4 (to look at), kan1 (to look after, take care of); This is the character for hand on top of the character for eye . . . that equals "to look at" for the doodles

Wednesday

西 - xi1 (west)
贵 - gui4 (expensive); *shrug*
更 - geng4 (still more), geng1 (to change; a "watch" [two hour period of the night])
便 - bian4 (be convenient), pian2 (first syllable of pian2yi [be expensive])
祖 - [no pronunciation] (side-hand radical); This one is actually just the left half of that doodle
且 - qie3 (further); just memorize it
祖 - zu3 (grandfather; ancestor; a family name); See above

Thursday

租 - zu1 (rent, to rent; hire, lease)
组 - zu3 (to organize; a unit of organization, such as a section or department)
宜 - yi2 (be appropriate)
要 - yao4 (to want, to ask for; be "wanted," be important, essential)
署 - wang3 (net); Actually just the top part, kinda looks like a net . . .
头 - tou2 (head; a suffix used to form nouns and noun-phrases; a bulb [of garlic]; a measure word for certain animals)
买 - mai3 (to buy)

Friday

卖 - mai4 (to sell)
日 - ri4 (sun); like the moon with less strokes . . .
老 - [no pronunciation], actually just the top part, some radical or another . . .
老 - lao3 (old)
者 - zhe3 (a sufix for verbs [verb + 者 = "a person who . . .", compare with English suffix -er])
猪 - quan3 (dog); Actually just the left side (side-dog)
猪 - zhu1 (pig)

I have decided that Monday will be Doodle Day--that special day when I share with you the thirty-five Chinese characters I will be learning this week. I have fallen horribly behind on my doodle studies, so I'm hoping this added obligation to do it will keep me a little more on task. Yeah . . . we'll see how far that gets me.

Anywho. Though I have fallen behind on studying, I've still studied more than I have told you about. So, at least for this week, I'll have two Doodle Days, until I catch up to where I am in my doodle book. It won't take long . . .

So here we are:

Monday

矢 - shi4 (arrow; to vow)
矮 - ai3 (be short [not tall])
忙 - mang2 (be busy)
心 - xin1 (heart)
您 - nin2 (deferential "you")
元 - yuan2 (first; "dollar;" Japanese yen)
[chuo4] - chuo4 (to halt) . . . it's the left side of the next character.

Tuesday

远 - yuan3 (be far away; family name)
云 - yun2 (to say; a cloud; family name)
运 - yun4 (to transport; fate, luck)
[fu4] - fu4 (mound) . . . left side of the next character
院 - yuan4 (public building; courtyard)
园 - yuan2 (park, garden) . . . tired of the yuans yet?
不 - bu4 (a negative prefix for verbs and adverbs)

Wednesday

太 - tai4 (extremely)
高 - gao1 (be tall; to tower; family name)
搞 - gao3 (to do, make; to manage, to get; to purge)
又 - you4 (again)
月 - yue4 (month; moon)
可 - ke3 (can, may; to suit; certainly)
啊 - a1 (a sentence-final particle--for questions, exclamations, commands, warnings, reminders, emphatic pauses, enumerations, direct address, impatient statements, and any-fucking-thing else the Chinese want. . . .

Thursday

聿 - [no pronunciation] (OK . . . technically, I'm only studying the radical here, which is this character without the bottom line . . . it's called "the top of 聿" and has no other definition . . . I do not know what 聿 means . . . I do not know why I need to know this . . .)
书 - shu1 (book; letter; document; to write)
节 - jie2 (technically, this is just the bottom part of this character . . . the "seal ring" radical)
报 - bao4 (to announce, report; newspaper; to requite)
毛 - mao2 (hair, fur, feathers; wool; mildew; semi-finished; gross [not net]; a measure for dimes; family name) . . . a measure for dimes? . . . sigh . . .
笔 - bi3 (brush, writing instrument)
玩 - wan2 (to play, to amuse oneself)

Friday

钅 - jin1 (gold, metals; family name)
山 - shan1 (mountain
钢 - gang1 (steel); also gang4 (to sharpen, whet)
八 - ba1 (eight)
铅 - qian1 (lead [the metal])
米 - mi3 (rice)
目 - mu4 (eye)

Ahhh . . . so that's all of them. I'll update again, probably Friday, with this week's other list. Fun and informative (I still can't read signs)!