Chinese radicals

Most Chinese characters consist of a radical or bùshǒu, which gives you a clue to the meaning of a character, and a phonetic component, which hints at how to pronounce the character. In dictionaries characters are classified according to their radicals and the number of strokes they contain. Some characters can be used both as a radical and as a phonetic component.

A selection of radicals with sample characters

人（亻）: rén = a human being, person, people

仕 (shì) an official (phonetic: 士 shì - scholar, gentleman)
仙 (xiān) a god, immortal, fairy (phonetic: 山 shān - mountain)
佃 (diàn) tenant farmer (phonetic: 田 tián - field)

刀（刂）: dào = knife, blade, sword

切 (qiè) to cut, mince, slice, carve (phonetic: 七 qì - seven)
剃 (tì) to shave (phonetic: 弟 dì - younger brother)
劍 (jìan) sword, dagger, saber (phonetic: 僉 qiān - all, the whole)

力: lì = strength, force, power, ability

功 (gōng) merit, achievement, usefulness (phonetic: 工 gōng - labourer, worker)
努 (nǔ) to exert oneself, make an effort (phonetic: 奴 nú - slave, servant)
勤 (qín) diligent, industrious (phonetic: 堇 jǐn - violet)

口: kǒu = mouth, opening, gate, crack

叨 (dāo) talkative, garrulous (phonetic: 刀 dào - knife, blade, sword)
吵 (chǎo) to quarrel, dispute, disturb, annoy (phonetic: 少 shǎo - small, little)
咕 (gū) to murmur, cluck, coo (phonetic: 古 gǔ - ancient, antiquated, old)

山: shān = mountain, hill

峭 (qiào) steep, precipitous (phonetic: 肖 xiào - to resemble, similar)
峰 (fēng) peak, summit, hump (phonetic: 夆 fèng - to receive with respect)
嶝 (dèng) a path leading up a mountain (phonetic: 登 dēng - to ascend, climb, rise)

心（忄）: xīn = heart, mind, conscience, intention, idea, ambition

忠 (zhōng) faithful, loyal, sincerity (phonetic: 中 zhōng - middle, centre)
怒 (nù) temper, anger, rage (phonetic: 奴 nú - slave, servant)
恩 (ēn) favour, grace, gratitude (phonetic: 因 yīn - cause, reason)

手（扌）: shǒu = hand, to hold, skilled person, action

忠 (zhōng) faithful, loyal, sincerity (phonetic: 中 zhōng - middle, centre)
怒 (nù) temper, anger, rage (phonetic: 奴 nú - slave, servant)
恩 (ēn) favour, grace, gratitude (phonetic: 因 yīn - cause, reason)

Further information about the Chinese script

Recommended books

Books about Chinese characters and calligraphy
Mandarin, Shanghainese, Hokkien, Taiwanese and Cantonese language courses, dictionaries, etc.

Chinese pages

Written Chinese: Oracle Bone Script, Simplified characters, Bopomofo, Types of characters, Structure of written Chinese, Evolution of characters, How the Chinese script works, Xiao'erjing, General Chinese

Spoken Chinese: Mandarin, Dungan, Wu, Shanghainese, Wenzhounese, Yue, Cantonese, Weitou, Min, Jian'ou, Taiwanese, Teochew, Fuzhounese, Puxian, Hakka, Xiang, Gan, How many people speak Chinese?

Semanto-phonetic writing systems

Akkadian Cuneiform, Ancient Egyptian (Demotic), Ancient Egyptian (Hieratic), Ancient Egyptian (Hieroglyphs), Chinese, Chữ-nôm, Cuneiform, Japanese, Jurchen, Khitan, Linear B, Luwian, Mayan, Naxi, Sawndip (Old Zhuang), Sui, Sumerian Cuneiform, Tangut (Hsihsia)

Other writing systems

Page last modified: 15.03.23

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