The List of
Grapheme
In linguistics, a grapheme is the smallest functional unit of a writing system.
The word ''grapheme'' is derived and the suffix ''-eme'' by analogy with ''phoneme'' and other names of emic units. The study of graphemes is called ''graphemics' ...
s of Commonly-Used Chinese Characters () is a list of 4762 commonly used
Chinese characters
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...
and their
standardized
Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...
forms prescribed by the
Hong Kong Education Bureau. The list is meant to be taught in
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
and
middle school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
s in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, but does not place restrictions on typefaces used for printing such as
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
,
gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
, or rounded gothic typeface styles.
History
Research and compilation work on the ''List'' began in July 1984. The work was undertaken by Professor Lei Hok-ming () of the Department of Chinese of the Education Bureau Institute of Language in Education (ILE) () and other scholars within the department. A Committee for the Research of Commonly-Used Chinese Character Graphemes, composed of scholars from various academic institutions, also participated in the examination and approval process for each character. The ''List'' was completed in September 1985 and published in September 1986.
The list was revised more thoroughly upon republications in 1990, 1997, and 2000. The 1990 revision was undertaken by three professors in the Chinese department of the ILE. In 2000, the ILE had become a part of the
, so the editing process was undertaken by three professors (Ze Gaa-hou , Lou Hing-kiu , and Sitou Sau-mei ) of the Education University, along with Lei Hok-ming, who was at
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is a public research university located in Hung Hom, Hong Kong near Hung Hom station. The University is one of the eight government-funded degree-granting tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Founded ...
at the time.
The list was last updated in 2007, included as an appendix to the ''Hong Kong Chinese Lexical Lists for Primary Learning'' ().
In 2012, the list was published as a hardcover book, with
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
and
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
pronunciations and simple English explanations for every character.
References
* http://crc.edb.gov.hk/crchome/en/26.asp
External links
Lexical Lists for Chinese Learning in Hong Kong
Chinese characters
{{HongKong-edu-stub