Chinese Characters and Radicals
Each Chinese character on the right-hand
column of the following table contains or is classified by a radical.
Occasionally a radical may simply be a character. The radicals displayed in
the table can be seen in radical indexes of most Chinese dictionaries for
simplified characters. However, some characters are catalogued under
different radicals. For instance, a same character can be found under a
particular radical in one dictionary but under another in a different
dictionary. The radical usually, but not invariably, gives a name or clue as
to the meaning of the character, as can be seen from the second column of
the following table.
For more information on Chinese characters please visit
Wikipedia
Click on the links below to find the answers.
Chinese characters are formed in the
following 7 different ways.
-
Single structured such as
雨
yŭ
rain.
-
Left and right structured such as
好hăo
good,
which is formed by the radical女
nǚ
woman
and the character子
zĭ
child.
-
Left, middle and right structured such as粥
zhōu porridge, which is formed by the character
米mĭ
rice, placed between two characters of
弓gōng
bow.
-
Top and base structured such as
华huá
China, which is formed by the character
化huà
to transform or convert and the radical
十shí
ten.
-
Top, middle and base structured such as
鼻
bí nose, which is formed by
自zì
oneself 田tián
field and the radical
廾
which means to join hands.
-
Half enclosure structured such as
医
yī medicine, cure, which is formed by the radical匚
which means basket and the
character 矢
shĭ arrow;
周
zhōu circle, which is
formed by the radical冂which
means boarders and the character
吉
jí auspicious;
凶
xiōng inauspicious, which is formed by X and the radical凵
which means receptacle.
-
Enclosure structured such as
国
guó
state,
which is formed by the character
玉
yù jade and the radical
囗
which means enclosure.
Some characters have components which hint
of the pronunciation of the characters. For instance, as it demonstrates
above in 4: 华,
one of the components of the character has a similar pronunciation as the
character华.
One way of remembering characters is to
make up "stories" which would make "sense" to yourself. For instance, in
休
xiū to rest, the radical on the left,
亻means
"a person", and the part on the right,
木,
means wood or tree, so the made up "story" could be "a person is leaning
against a tree to have a rest." Let's look at another example;
队
duì a queue. The radical on the left,
阝means
plenty and the part on the right,
人
means people, so one could say: "Plenty of people make a queue."
Sometimes the radical doesn't have enough to allow a story to be made up
then one should use one's imagination. For instance, in
办
bàn to deal with the middle part of the character
力
means strength, and the two dots,
、
look like sweat, so one could say: "Nowadays one needs strength and sweat to
deal with business."
Using the following radical table while you
are learning the Chinese characters in the
Characters section on the CD will help you to become familiar with
counting strokes and remembering the characters.
There are at least three advantages for
learning the radicals.
-
It will help you to remember characters.
In some cases, radicals can also give categorical information. For
instance, the character忘to
forget is formed by the
radical 心
heart
and 亡
perish.
The heart radical often associate with words which imply thinking such as
想
to think.
The character想
to think
is formed by 心,
the heart radical and the character
相,
it is pronounced xiāng which is similar to the character想
xiăng.
-
Radicals and components are used to
describe characters. As there are many homophones in Chinese, characters
are often are described by their radicals and components. For instance, if
you want to describe the character河river
which is pronounced hé. As there are many characters sharing the same
pronunciation, when a Chinese person describes this character to you he or
she might say: “water radical氵with
the character 可.”
-
Most importantly, Chinese characters are
often catalogued under a radical index in a dictionary. Without knowing
radicals will be impossible to use a dictionary. However, the radical
indexes in Chinese dictionaries are not always the same. For example, one
character can be listed under a particular radical in one dictionary but
can be listed under another radical in a different dictionary.
Radicals of characters are placed either on
left, right, top, base or outside of a character as indicated in Column 3 of
the following table.
There is no need to learn all the radicals
first before learning characters. The best way to use the following table is
to look up the meanings of radicals when you are watching the animation of
the "Radical" column below and the
Characters section on the CD. This might help you to make up stories
to remember the characters. Highlight the radicals which you have learned
with a highlight pen and add the relevant characters into the examples boxes
below.
|
Radical |
Number of strokes
/ meaning / description in Chinese |
Positions in
character |
Examples |
|
、 |
1 / a point /
点
|
top |
之,为
,必 |
|
一 |
1 / one /
横 |
top |
丁,七,才,万,再,事 |
|
丨 |
1 / down stroke /
竖 |
middle |
书,半 |
|
丿 |
1 / left stroke /
撇 |
left, top |
生,川,及,么,乐,向 |
|
乙 |
1 / down curved /
竖弯勾 |
left, right |
九,飞,乱
|
|
冫 |
2 / ice /
两点水 |
left, (base) |
冰,冷,冻,次,准,(冬) |
|
午* |
2 /
一撇一横
|
top |
午,年,每,复,舞 |
|
刂 |
2 / knife /
则
刀旁 |
right |
到,別,刻,刚,剧,制 |
|
阝 |
2 / plenty /
左耳刀旁 |
left |
阳,阴,
队,院,险,防
|
|
阝
|
2 / big city /
右耳刀旁 |
right |
都,那,
邻 |
|
予
* |
2 / |
top, middle |
勇,予,疏 |
|
卩 |
2 / to seal |
top, right |
卫,印,卸 |
|
厶 |
2 / private /撇橫点
(三角) |
top, left |
台,
能,
参
|
|
凵
|
2 / receptacle /凶字底 |
base |
画,击,凶,函 |
|
匚 |
2 / basket /左边筐 |
left |
区,医,匡 |
|
冂
|
2 / borders |
outside, top |
同,用,周,内 |
|
个*,
入
|
2 / person, enter |
top |
全,个,今,介,命 |
|
讠 |
2 / speech /言字旁 |
left |
论,说,讲,谈,语 |
|
大* |
2 / [to have] /
一橫一撇 |
top |
有,友,在,左,右,布,灰 |
|
反*
|
2 /
横撇竖撇 |
top |
后,质,斤,盾 |
|
亻 |
2 / person /
人字旁 |
left |
你,他,什,位,作 |
|
又
yòu |
2 / also /
又 |
left, base |
双,对,发,欢,难,观 |
|
廴
|
2 / to move on /
建字底 |
base |
建,延,廷 |
|
匕 bĭ |
2 / spoon /
匕字 |
right |
此,北 |
|
儿
ér |
2 / son /
儿
字 |
base |
先,兜 |
|
几
jĭ |
2 / table /
几
字 |
top, outside |
朵,凡 |
|
刀 dāo |
2 / knife /
刀
字 |
base, top, right |
刀,色,象,切 |
|
力
lì |
2 / strength /
力
字 |
right, base, middle |
力,
动
,办
,努 |
|
厂
chăng |
2 / cliff /
厂字头 |
top left |
厂,历,
厅
|
|
卜 bŭ |
2 / to divine /卜字 |
top, right |
外,上,卡,占 |
|
二
èr |
2 / two /
二字 |
top, base |
云,些,元,井,于
|
|
十 shí |
2 / ten /
十
字
|
left, top, base |
博,支,华 |
|
勹 |
2 / to wrap /
包字头 |
right |
包,句,勿 |
|
彳 |
3 / to walk slowly /
双
人旁
|
left |
街,行,往,得 |
|
丬
|
3 / frame /
将字旁 |
left |
将,藏,壮 |
|
囗 |
3 / enclosure /
方匡 |
outside |
国,四,回,图,园
|
|
艹 |
3 / grass /
草字头
|
top |
草,花,茶,英 |
|
廾
|
3 / join hands /
弄字底
|
base |
开,卉,弊 |
|
尢
|
3 / crooked /
尤字旁
|
middle, left |
无,尤,尴,尬 |
|
纟 |
3 / silk /
绞丝
(旁,
底)
|
left / base |
给,红,系
|
|
屮
|
3 / sprout |
middle |
出,屯 |
|
扌 |
3 / hand /
提手旁 |
left |
报,打,搬,拉,把,捕 |
|
辶 |
3 / to go /
走之底 |
|
这,边,还,进,迈 |
|
宀 |
3 / roof /
宝
盖
头
|
top |
家,
宝,它,完,实 |
|
氵 |
3 / water /
三点
水 |
left |
河,汤,洗,海,没 |
|
忄
|
3 / heart /
竖心旁
|
left |
忙,快,慢,怪,忆 |
|
饣 |
3 / to eat /
食字旁 |
left |
饭,
饺,
馆
|
|
犭
|
3 / dog /
反犬旁
|
left |
猫,狗,狼 |
|
夂
|
3 / to follow /折文 |
top, left |
务,冬,
各,处 |
|
彐
|
3 / pig's head |
top |
寻,录,归 |
|
巛
|
3 / stream /
三拐 |
top, middle |
巢,巡,(州) |
|
彡
|
3 / feathery /
三撇 |
right |
影,形 |
|
弋
yì |
3 / a dart /
弋
字 |
left |
式,贰 |
|
己,
已
jĭ , yĭ |
3 / self/already
|
top |
导,异,忌 |
|
女
nǚ |
3 / women
女字 |
|
她,好,姐,妈 |
|
巾
jīn |
3 / napkin /
巾字 |
left, base |
帖,幅,币,帮 |
|
山
shān |
3 / mountain /
山
字 |
left |
岁,峡,幽, |
|
大 dà |
3 / great /
大字 |
top, middle |
大,夫,头,奇,太 |
|
丸
wán |
3 / ball, pill /丸字 |
right |
孰 |
|
幺 yāo |
3 / tiny /幺字旁
|
left |
幼,幻 |
|
小
xiăo |
3 / small /小字 |
top |
少,当,尘,省, |
|
弓 gōng |
3 / a bow /
弓字旁 |
left / base |
张,强
|
|
土
tŭ,
士
shì
|
3 / earth, scholar /
提土旁 |
left, top, base |
地,场,声,城,墙,尘 |
|
亡
wáng |
3 / to perish /
亡字 |
top, left, base |
忘,盲,
氓,
芒 |
|
夕
xī |
3 / sunset /夕字 |
top, left |
外,名,多,夠 |
|
广
guăng |
3 / shelter /广
字头
|
top |
应,店,
康,度 |
|
门 mén |
3 / gate /
门
字
|
top |
问,间,阅
|
|
子 zĭ |
3 / child /
子
字 |
left, base, top |
孩,孙,学,孟 |
|
耂
|
4 / old /
老字头
|
top |
考,者,孝 |
|
牜 |
4 / ox /
牛字旁 |
left |
特,物,牲 |
|
灬
|
4 / fire /
四点底
|
base |
点,热,煎,煮,
然,熊,杰 |
|
月yuè |
4 / flesh /月字
(旁,底)
|
left / base |
肺,朋,肝,胃
|
|
礻 |
4 / spirit /示字旁 |
left |
社,祝,礼,视
|
|
攵 |
4 / tap /
反文旁 |
right |
收,改,故,教 |
|
斗
dŏu |
4 / to measure /斗字
|
right |
斜,斟 |
|
歹
dăi |
4 / bad, evil /
歹字 |
left |
死,列,残 |
|
犬 quăn
|
4 / dog /
犬字 |
base, right |
哭,献 |
|
瓦 wă
|
4 / baked clay /
瓦字 |
left, base |
瓶,瓷 |
|
不
bù |
4 / not /
不字 |
top |
否,甭,歪,孬 |
|
廿
niàn |
4 / twenty /廿字头
|
top |
共,黄,巷 |
|
木 mù |
4 / wood /
木字(旁,头,底) |
left, top, base |
本,来,村,相,查,架 |
|
王 wáng |
4 / king /
斜王旁 |
left, top, base |
理,现
,琴,望 |
|
心
xīn |
4 / heart /
心字底 |
base |
您,想,总,愿 |
|
火
hŏu |
4 / fire /火字旁 |
left, base |
灯,炒,烧,烤,爆,炎 |
|
文
wén |
4 / civil /
文字旁 |
left |
斌 |
|
方 fāng
|
4 / square,
side / 方字 |
left, base |
放,旅,族,旁 |
|
户
hù |
4 / household /
户字旁 |
top |
房,肩,扁,雇 |
|
夭
yāo |
4 / tender, young /
夭字旁 |
top |
吞,乔,蚕 |
|
片 piàn |
4 / a strip /
片
字 |
left |
版,牌 |
|
贝 bèi |
4 / treasure /
贝
字 |
left, base |
贵,则,贴,赚
|
|
斤 jīn |
4 / half kilo/
斤
字
|
left, base |
斤,新,所 |
|
殳 shū |
4 / to kill /
殳字 |
right |
毀,没 |
|
日
rì |
4 / day, sun /日字
|
left, top, base |
时,明,昨,旧
|
|
车
chē |
4 / vehicle /
车 |
left, top, base |
辆,转,轻,轰,辈 |
|
戈
gē |
4 / spear /
戈 |
right, left |
我,或,战,划,
(成) |
|
止
zhĭ |
4 / only to stop /
止 |
top, base, left |
步,肯,正,此,武 |
|
曰 yuè |
4 / to say, name /
曰 |
|
电,甲,冒,曲 |
|
牙 yá
|
4 / tooth /牙 |
left |
鸦,雅
|
|
中
zhōng |
4 / middle /
中 |
top, right |
贵,忠 |
|
尝
* |
5 /
常
字
头
|
top |
常,党
,堂 |
|
癸* |
5 / back to back /
背靠背(登字头)
|
top |
登,
背 |
|
艹 |
5 / grass & cover /
草花盖 |
top |
营,劳,荣
|
|
奉*
|
5 / to present /
春字头 |
top |
春,
奏,奉,秦,泰 |
|
钅 |
5 / gold (metal) /
金字旁 |
left, base |
银,钱,钢,铁 |
|
疒
|
5 / to be ill /
病字头
|
left |
病,瘦,痛,疼,痕 |
|
衤
|
5 / clothes /
衣字旁 |
left |
袄,补,衬,衫 |
|
禾
hé |
5 / grain /
禾木(旁,
头) |
left, top |
和,秒,秀,委, |
|
田
tián |
5 / field /田 |
top, base, left |
男,累,界, |
|
玉
yù |
5 / jade, pure /玉 |
left, base |
璧 |
|
示
shì |
5 / spirit /示 |
base |
崇,祭, |
|
去qù
|
5 / to be away /去 |
base, left |
丢,却,劫 |
|
甘gān
|
5 / sweet /
甘 |
top |
某 |
|
目
mù |
5 / eye /目 |
left, base |
看,眼,睛,眉 |
|
四
sì |
5 / four /
四字头 |
top |
罗,罩,罪 |
|
戊
wu |
5 / fifth /戊 |
left |
成,咸,戚 |
|
皿 mĭn
|
5 / dish /皿字底
|
base |
盆,盐,监,盗,盟 |
|
瓜 guā
|
5 / melon /瓜 |
right |
瓢,瓤 |
|
申 shēn |
5 / to state /申 |
left |
畅 |
|
皮
pí |
5 / skin /皮 |
left, right |
颇,皱 |
|
鸟
niăo |
5 / bird /鸟 |
right, base |
鸠,鸦 |
|
穴 xuè
|
5 / cave /
穴字头
|
top |
穿,空,窗 |
|
矢 shĭ |
5 / arrow /
矢字 |
left |
知,
短,
矮 |
|
白
bái |
5 / white /
白字 |
left, top, base |
的,
皂,百, |
|
主
zhŭ |
5 / main /
主字 |
top |
表,责,毒,素 |
|
目 mù |
5 / eye /
目
字
|
left, base |
看,眼,睛 |
|
业
yè
|
5 / business /
业
字 |
top |
凿
|
|
立 lì |
5 / to stand /立字 |
left, top, base |
站,亲,产,竖 |
|
石 shí |
5 / stone /石字(旁,底) |
left, top, base |
砂,矿,破,碟,泵,砦 |
|
竹* |
6 / bamboo
竹字头 |
top |
笔,签,简 |
|
米 mĭ |
6 / rice /
米字旁 |
left, top, base |
米,料,糊,类,粪,粲 |
|
羽
yú |
6 / feather, wing /
羽字 |
|
翼,翠,翻,翅,翁 |
|
耳 ér |
6 / ear /耳字 |
left |
取,职,联,聊 |
|
羊 yáng
|
6 / sheep /
羊字头
|
top, right |
群,差 |
|
页
yì |
6 / heading
页字 |
right |
领,顺,顶
|
|
角 jiăo |
7 / horn /角字
|
left |
解,触 |
|
走 zŏu |
7 / to walk /
走字
|
left, base |
起,赴,赵 |
|
釆
căi |
8 / to separate /
采字 |
top, left |
悉,释,番 |
|
雨
yŭ |
8 / rain /
雨字,
雨字头
|
top |
雪,雷,霜,雾,需
|
|