Singapore University of Social Sciences

The study of Chinese etymology focuses mostly on tracking the evolution of characters’ meanings and forms over time. In the era of the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE), the renowned Xu Shen penned a masterful etymological treatise called Shuowen Jiezi, containing the definitions for more than 9,000 characters, Xu Shen’s work represents one of the first systematic attempts to examine Chinese characters on an etymological basis, prioritizing their origins and first appearances. Students will explore three basic distinctions of written Chinese in general and Chinese etymology in particular: pictographic characters, phonetic and semantic components, and ideograms. In addition to the historical development of Chinese characters, students will learn the theories needed to analyse the forms of Chinese characters. Singapore’s contribution to the standardisation of Chinese characters will also be introduced.