Mnemonic comic for 一

Translation

yi̅ = y + Ø1: one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

Mnemonic

Maud Younger (y) forgot her keys to the space station (Ø1), all she brought outside was her flute (一). She has no choice but to crash the door with the giant flute.

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Comments

No one needs a mnemonic to remember that 一 is the Chinese character for "one". Neither for 二 and 三, which are, you guessed it, "two" and "three" respectively.

Why is this mnemonic helpful anyway? Because it helps us to learn more complicated characters later on. Knowing that 一 is a flute and 丿 is a banana helps us to distinguish 干 (dry; to do) and 千 (one thousand), or 天 (day; heaven) and 夭 (to die prematurely). This comic helps us to build a foundation for the house we're going to build. Feel free to scroll down to see how the flute, the mnemonic symbol for 一, is used in other characters.

The pinyin syllable "yi1" is, in our mnemonic system, split up into the initial "yi" and no final plus the first tone. The pinyin initial "yi" is represented by Maud Younger, the suffragist from more than one hundred years ago. The final "-1" tells us that the scene takes place in front of the space station.

Matthias, over 1 year ago

Thank you zeimusu for uploading this SVG to openclipart.org! https://openclipart.org/detail/3305/recorder

Matthias, over 1 year ago

一 character breakdown

The character 一 cannot be broken down into individual components.

Characters with 一 as component

二

èr = Ø + Ø4

two / 2 / (Beijing dialect) stupid

二 = 一 : Mnemonic symbol: a capacitor, because the two strokes remind me of the symbol in electrical drawings. Albert Einstein (Ø) is experimenting with a capacitor (二) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). He finds that it's uncomfortable to discharge a capacitor using two flutes (一).

三

sa̅n = s + an1

three / 3

三 = 一 + 二 : Mnemonic symbol: a Cartesian coordinate system with three (三) axes.

Socrates (s-) is performing in front of the anthill (-an1). He created an electrical flute by attaching a large capacitor (二) to the flute (一), so that he can get the attention of all the ants. Moreover, he's balancing on a Cartesian coordinate system (三). Unfortunately, only three (三) ants stop to watch the performance.

丁

di̅ng = di + (e)ng1

male adult / the 4th of the 10 Heavenly Stems 天干[tian1 gan1] / fourth (used like "4" or "D") / small cube of meat or vegetable / (literary) to encounter / (archaic) ancient Chinese compass point: 195° / (chemistry) butyl

丁 = 一 + 亅 : Mnemonic symobl: a nail. 一 is the head of the nail and 亅 is the shaft. The point of the nail is already a bit bent.

Dorothy Gale (di) balances a flute (一) on a crowbar (亅) in front of the engine ((e)ng1). For this trick, she wins the fourth (丁) place in an artists competition and gets a quarter (丁) of a pizza as prize. Unfortunately, there is a big nail (mnemonic symbol for 丁) on the pizza slice.

寸

cùn = cu + (e)n4

a unit of length / inch / thumb

寸 = 一 + 亅 + 丶 : Kitty Cat is playing with a petal leaf in the encampment's bathroom. She's keeping it in the air by hitting it with a flute and a crowbar. It's so much fun that she thinks to herself "thumbs up".

才

cái = c + ai2

ability / talent / sb of a certain type / a capable individual / then and only then / just now / (before an expression of quantity) only

才 = 一 + 亅 + 丿 : Mnemonic symbol: from "ability / talent", the special ability of X-ray vision.

The King of Chu (c) has been bitten by a X-ray tube and has gained the special ability (才) of X-ray vision. In the airplane's kitchen (ai2), he holds a banana (丿) in each hand; through his x-ray vision ability, he is able to see that in one of them there's a crowbar (亅) hidden, in the other one a flute (一).

才

纔

cái = c + ai2

(variant of 才[cai2]) just now / (before an expression of quantity) only

㇆

Character component without intrinsic meaning

㇆ = 一 + 亅 : Mnemonic symbol: ㇆ just looks like a plow.

Someone attached a flute to the top of a crowbar to create a new instrument. When the crowbar is bowed with a plow, the vibrations of the crowbar will transfer to the flute, which in turn is producing eerie sounds.

日

rì = r + Ø4

sun / day / date, day of the month

日 = 囗 + 一 : Robinson Crusoe (r) is hiding from the sun (日) in an enclosure (囗) full of flutes (一) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4).

日

rì = r + Ø4

abbr. for 日本[Ri4 ben3], Japan

旦

dàn = d + an4

dawn / morning / daybreak / day / dan, female roles in Chinese opera (traditionally played by specialized male actors)

旦 = 一 + 日 : Mnemonic symbol: A big mug, since many people start the day with a mug of coffee.

Don Quixote (d) meets the sun (日) early in the morning (旦) in the anthill's bathroom (an4). Don Quixote is full of energy and can't wait to start into a new adventure, but since the sun is a morning grouch who only just started drinking her mug of coffee (mnemonic symbol for 旦) she cannot stand it and beats him over the head with a flute (一) to calm him a bit down.

百

bǎi = b + ai3

hundred / numerous / all kinds of

百 = 一 + 白 : Mnemonic symbol: a one hundred 元 bill.

Beelzebub (b) enjoys preparing to allure mortals. In the airplane's living room (ai3) he's waving a flute (一) as a magic wand and enchanting one hundred white flags (白) to look like one hundred (百) one hundred 元 bills (百).