TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 567

R3.

-

!

:

(f) further complexities arise under certain conditions: for

example, because of the historical development of characters

over many centuries, a character may have several slightly

different forms, as in the following examples:

全全

染染:

硏研;

窗窸窸熜惚

some of which, though generally acceptable, may be rejected

by scholars; the same character may be pronounced in many

different ways or with different tones, with a consequent

change in meaning or usage; and a character may have different

meanings when used in different situations (for example the

can convey ten different meanings

character one

11

according to context).

Words and meaning

4.

'Words' in Chinese may consist of single characters with

independent meanings functioning individually in sentences, or a

combination of two or more characters which convey an idea through their

juxtaposition in the latter case the idea conveyed by the group of

characters may have no relationship with the individual constituent

characters. Because of the immense span of the territory of China the

same object may often be denoted in different provinces by different

words.

5.

The flexible structure of Chinese is an advantage when used

for works of art and literature but it can be an obstacle when accuracy

and precision of expression are required. There is now a tendency in

Chinese writings (especially those related to science and technology)