Gradually, however, the eye comes to perceive that every now and again
there is to be found in one character a certain portion which has
already been observed in another, and this may well have given rise to
the idea that each character is built up of parts equivalent to our
letters of the alphabet. These portions are of two kinds, and must be
considered under two separate heads.

Under the first head come a variety of words, which also occur as
substantive characters, such as dog, vegetation, tree, disease, metal,
words, fish, bird, man, woman. These are found to indicate the direction
in which the sense of the whole character is to be sought.

Thus, whenever 犭 "dog" occurs in a character, the reader may prepare for
the name of some animal, as for instance 狮 _shih_ "lion," 猫 _mao_ "cat,"
狼 _lang_ "wolf", 猪 _ehu_ "pig."

Two of these are interesting words. (1) There are no lions in China;
_shih_ is merely an imitation of the Persian word _shír_. (2) _Mao_, the
term for a "cat," is obviously an example of onomatopoeia.

The character 犭 will also indicate in many cases such attributes as
猾 _hua_ "tricky," 狠 _hên_, "aggressive," 猛 _mêng_ "fierce," and other
characteristics of animals.

Similarly, 艹 _ts'ao_ "vegetation" will hint at some plant; _e.g._ 草
_ts'ao_ "grass," 荷 _ho_ "the lily," 芝 _chih_ "the plant of immortality."

木 _mu_ "a tree" usually points toward some species of tree; _e.g._ 松
_sung_ "a fir tree," 桑 _sang_ "a mulberry tree"; and by extension it
points toward anything of wood, as 板 _pan_ "a board," 桌 _cho_ "a table,"