Don’t despair! Even native speakers –unless they’re actively studying kanji–don’t know radicals very well either. To get to their level you basically just need to have a general idea of how the system works including some of its quirks (like those explained above), and also als o remember terms for a few common radical forms. So, let’s move on to some vo cabulary! Actually, once you get the basics, most of the time you can come up with these terms on the spot. For example; 偏（へん） is the word for a radical on the left side of a kanji, so 松 is 木偏（きへん） , 銀 is 金偏（かねへん ), 地 is 土偏 (つちへん ) , and so on.
First, a quick note: while each kanji has only one 部首 (ぶしゅ), or radical , which is used for classification purposes. Kanji are usually made up of multiple components ( components (要素: ようそ). Various kanji components are also referred to as “radicals” (especially in English), which in the strict definition of “radical” is incorrect. Even so, the following terms are still useful for description and communication. For example, the 部首 of 聞 is 耳, but you can still describe the kanji with the word 門構え(もんがまえ ). In this list, I tried to cover common but not obviously- named radicals. Here’s a link (Japanese) to a much more complete collection if you’re interested. The Japanese Wikipedia article on radicals is also packed with detailed info. The English Wikipedia article isn’t so shabby either. Most radicals can be classified in one of seven types, depending on their position in the kanji.
Table: Basic Radical Vocabulary This table gives the names of various components (in components (in hiragana), and several example kanji for each. If I thought clarification was helpful or necessary, I added the kanji on which the component is based in parenthesis after the hiragana reading.
： ：
- Radical (for classification) – Left-side component
(水) ：
海泳池
(氷) ： 冷 凍 (阜) ： 阪 限 降
(人) ： 仕 休 他 ：話語記 ：待得後
(犬) ： 猫 犯 独
：残殆殊
(衣) ： 袖 裾 裸
：配酎酢
(示) ： 社 祝 神 ：
(心) ： 性 怖 忙
– Right-side component
(刀) ： 刊 列 利
(攴) ： 攻 改 政
：頭頃頂
：殴段殺
(邑) ： 都 郊 邪
：料斜
：形影彩
：新斬斯
：難雅雄 ：
：取収双
– Top-side component
(草) ： 茶 苗 苦
(ワ) ： 冗 冠 冥
(ウ) ： 安 完 客
(网) ： 置 罪 罠
(竹) ： 答 第 等
：京交亭
：空究窓 ：
：登発
– Bottom-side component
(心) ： 恭 慕
：元兄光
(火) ： 烈 無 然
：泰
– Top+left-side ： component ：原厚厓
：店床度
：病疲症 ：
：戻房扉
– Bottom+left component
(辵) ： 道 近 追
：延建廻
：起越赴 ：
– Enclosing component ：間開閉
：街術衡
：国園四
：包匂勿
A couple other quirks There’s a couple radicals that appear identical, but are actually considered different. Look at the these two characters:
服肌
See that 月? Well on the left, it’s the moon radical (月). But on the right it’s the flesh radical (肉). The too components look and are written exactly the same, but if the meaning of the kanji has anything to do with the body, it’s the 肉 radical. So in 服 the component is called
but in 肌 it’s called
.
Next, look at these:
今全 The radicals of these kanji are also written and look the same, but differ according to what kanji they are based on. 今’s radical is 人, and this form is called ) . 全 is 入, and in this instance is referred to as ( ). Finally, I want to mention the kanji 書. Ever thought it strange that the kanji for “writing” had the sun radical? Yes, the 日 on the bottom is the radical. But it’s not 日. It’s actually derived from 曰 (いわく). Look closely: 日 曰. 曰 is a pretty rare kanji/radic al that means “to speak”. The bottom piece of 書 is still written as 日, but just know that the kanji isn’t actually classified that way.
