Chinese Radicals

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Radicals

Original characters --

--

Pinyin

--

--

yan

dao

ren

Meaning

--

--

word

knife

man

Examples leng cold

jing capital

bing

shuo to talk

di

dao to arrive

qing to request

xiu to stop

jian

emperor

xi to practise

obscure

language

to publish

Immortal

lengyin cold drinks

Beijing Peking

shuo hua to speak

daolai arrival

xiuxi to rest

bingdong to freeze

huangdi emperor

qing wen may I ask...

jianbing handle of a sword

fojing Buddhist scripture

xiguan to get used to

xuanmiao marvellous

yuyan language

yuekan monthly publication

xiannu female immortal

xuan

sword

fo

ice

yu

Buddha

kan

xian

Compounds

#1 The first radical is called the "two drops of water"; it usually appears in characters that have to do with coldness. It's placed at the left side of characters. #2 This radical always stays on top of characters.

#3 This radical is called "speech", and it appears at the left side of characters that have to do with language. #4 The original form of the "knife" is also a radical; it's found at the bottom of characters, as in the first of the following. The second character shows a third form of this radical (placed on top):

fen

to divide

zheng

to argue

#5 The fifth radical is called the "standing person", and is always placed at the left side of characters. The character it comes from can also be used as a radical; in that case it always stays on top, as in the following character:

zhong

crowd

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

Radicals

Original characters

--

Pinyin

er

shui

xin

guang

--

Meaning

ear

water

heart

broad

--

yang Examples

sun

jiu spirit

xian limit

guai strange

you oil

miao temple

hui to regret

gong palace

chuang bed

ke guest

dui

Compounds

sha

kuai

ting

bao

team

sand

quick

court

treasure

taiyang sun

baijiu white spirit

qiguai strange

simiao temple

huanggong imperial palace

xiandu limit

youhua oil painting

huihen to regret

chuangdan sheet

keqi polite

duizhang team leader

dousha bean paste

kuaile happy

jiating family

lingbao Nouminous Treasure

#6 The first radical is called the "ear", and it can stay at the left side or at the right side of characters. #7 This radical is called "three drops of water", symbolizes flowing water and occurs on the left of characters. Its original form is also a radical; in the following character is placed at the bottom but its position is not fixed:

quan

spring, fountain

#8 The original form of the "heart" is also radical, and is always placed at the bottom, as in the following character:

si

thought

#10 This radical is called "the covering top" and it always occurs on top. Characters with this radical are often related to the idea of house.

#11

Radicals

#12

#13

#14

#15

Original characters

--

Pinyin

men

zou

tu

--

da

Meaning

door

to walk

soil

--

big

jian space in between Examples

jin to enter

wen to ask

yuan far

xian

Compounds

di earth

cao grass

ta pagoda

mi

hua flower

qiang

tai greatest

kua to exaggerate

ping

mei

leisure

to be lost

wall

apple

beautiful

shijian time

jinbu to improve

difang place

caoshu grass writing, cursive

taitai madame

wenti question

yuanzu excursion

dengta lighthouse

xuehua snowflakes

kuakou to boast

xianhua gossip

mixin superstition

qiangbi wall

pingguo apple

meili pretty

#12 The original form of this radical is also a radical, as in the following character:

chao

to exceed

#13 The original form of the "soil" is also radical, and is always placed at the bottom, as in the following characters:

chen

dust

zuo

to sit

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

Radicals

Original characters

--

--

Pinyin

shou

kou

--

shan

--

Meaning

hand

mouth

--

mountain

--

da to hit Examples

jiao to shout, to call

zhua to seize

ting

dao

hang

island

line

drawing

ling mountain ridge

very

tan to sigh

ti

Compounds

guo country

tu

hen

to carry

to listen

quan circle, to enclose

peak

feng virtue

de

dakai open

jiaohan to shout

guoji international

daoyu islands

yinhang bank

zhuazhu to catch

tanci exclamation

ditu map

shanling mountain ridge

hen duo very much

tigao to raise

tingzhong audience, listeners

quanzi circle, ring

shanfeng mountain peak

daode ethics

#16 The original form of the "hand" is also a radical, placed at the bottom or on the left:

na

to hold, to take

bai

to worship, to respect

#17 The "mouth" is not always placed on the left of characters, as in the following examples:

ming

name

shi

history

#19 This radical also stays on top or at the bottom of characters:

sui

year

yue

high mountain