Reference
Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms you'll meet while learning a language with Bookverse — from HSK 3.0 and pinyin to radicals and CEFR.
Mandarin
- HSK 3.0 The new Chinese Proficiency Standards — nine levels grouped into five bands, replacing the old six-level HSK.
- Pinyin The official romanisation system for Mandarin — the bridge between Chinese characters and how they sound.
- Mandarin tones Mandarin's four (plus one) pitch contours — the difference between 'mother' and 'horse'.
- Hanzi The Chinese characters used to write Mandarin — logograms, not letters.
- Simplified vs Traditional Two writing standards for Chinese characters. Mainland China and Singapore use simplified; Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau use traditional.
- Radical A semantic component of a Chinese character — the building block dictionaries are organised by.
- Measure word A small word Mandarin requires between a number and a noun. English has them too — 'two slices of bread' — but Mandarin uses them everywhere.