Left-Side Radicals
The History of Chinese Radical
Learn Chinese Radicals Part I:
Dating back to 2000 years ago during the Han dynasty, there was a scholar called 许慎(xǔ shèn) who edited and compiled a book called《说文解字》(Character Analysis) which is probably the oldest dictionary in China.
He compiled a total of 9300 Chinese characters. During the process, he thought about how to sort them out so that it would be easy to find any character. Finally, he sorted by putting the characters that share the same component into the same group.
This method of classification made it convenient to learn Chinese because characters that share the same component are somehow related in terms of their meaning. For instance, the characters 河(river, hé), 海(sea, hǎi) and 湖(lake, hú) all have the component of "氵", which suggests that the characters have something got to do with water. Therefore, this type of component that indicates characters that belong to the same category is called radical, which is used to compile Chinese dictionaries. As of now, there are more than 200 radicals in Chinese.
If you have a Chinese dictionary with you, you'll see that checking a character using its Pinyin is not the only method. You can also check a character if you know its radical, which often appears in the left, right, upper, or bottom part of a character.
Why Do You Need to Learn Radicals?
What is the purpose of learning radicals? Here are two main reasons:
Use radical as a method to check the dictionary
Learn Chinese characters more efficiently if you know the meaning of radicals
For compound characters with left-right and up-down structures, radicals can be found on the left, right, upper, or bottom of the character.
In this article, let's learn some commonly seen radicals that are found on the left side of a compound character with a left-right structure.
The Left-Side Radicals
"冫" - 两点水(liǎng diǎn shuǐ, ice)
This two-dot radical is derived from the character "冰(bīng, ice)", therefore many characters with this radical are related to coldness. For example, "冷(lěng, cold)", "凉(liáng, cooling)" and "冻(dòng, freeze)".
In Simplified Chinese, there are many characters with "冫", but their meanings might not reflect the meaning of this radical mentioned above. This is because the radicals of many Simplified Chinese characters have changed which differs from their traditional writing.
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
净
准
减
冲
决
Let’s check their pronunciations below:
"氵" - 三点水(sān diǎn shuǐ, water)
This radical is derived from the pictographic character "水(shuǐ, water)", therefore many characters with this radical are related to water. This is one of the most commonly seen radicals in Chinese writing.
It can be found in words related to a waterbody, such as "江(jiāng, river)", "河(hé, river)", "湖(hú, lake)" and "海(hǎi, sea)". It can also be found in words related to water activities, such as "游(yóu, swim)", "渡(dù, cross)" and "洗(xǐ, wash)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
汁
汤
漆
泪
酒
"亻" - 单人旁(dān rén páng, standing person)
This radical is derived from the character "人(rén, human)". It is a common radical that appears in many characters, such as "你(nǐ, you)", "他(tā, he)", "体(tǐ, body)" and "俩(liǎ, two persons)". Characters with this radical usually have something to do with human beings. Sometimes, it also appears in characters that have something got to do with human activities, such as "借(jiè, borrow)", "做(zuò, do)", "修(xiū, fix)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
仙
信
偷
件
传
"彳" - 双人旁(shuāng rén páng, two people)
This radical is like the standing person radical we learned previously, with a double left-falling stroke on top. It is derived from the character "行(xíng)", which means walking. There are other words with this radical that got to do with the road and walking, such as "往(wǎng, towards)", "征(zhēng, go on a journey)", "徊(huái, pace back and forth)" and "街(jiē, street)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
彼
律
德
徒
待
"讠" - 言字旁(yán zì páng, speech)
This radical is simplified and derived from the character "言(yán, speech)", therefore many characters with this radical are related to talking and speaking. For example, some common ones are "说(shuō, say)", "谈(tán, talk)", "话(huà, spoken words)" and "谢(xiè, thanks)".
Sometimes, you may also observe this radical that appears as the middle component of a character, such as "辩(biàn, argument)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
论
议
语
讥
讽
"扌" - 提手旁(tí shǒu páng, hand)
This radical is derived from the character "手(shǒu, hand)". This commonly seen radical is found in many characters that are related to our hands or the actions that our hand does. For example, "拉(lā, pull)", "接(jiē, fetch)", "擦(cā, wipe)", "指(zhǐ, point)" and "打(dǎ, hit)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
推
描
扔
抄
摸
"忄" - 竖心旁(shù xīn páng, feeling)
This radical is derived from the character "心(xīn, heart)". It is found in characters that are related to the activities of the heart, as well as our feelings and mood. Some characters with this radical are "怕(pà, scared)", "恨(hèn, hate)", "慌(huāng, panic)", "悔(huǐ, regret)" and "恼(nǎo, annoy)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
情
怀
惜
愉
忙
"犭" - 反犬旁(fǎn quǎn páng, animal)
This radical is derived from the Chinese character "犬(quǎn, dog)". Many characters with this radical are related to animals. Some characters with this radical are: "狐", "狗", "狮", "猴" and "猪". This 犬 component can also be found in words such as "哭(kū, cry)" and "获(huò, obtain)", without changing its form.
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
猫
猜
猛
猩
狼
"虫" - 虫字旁(chóng zì páng, insect)
This radical is derived from the character "虫(chóng, worm)", therefore it is often seen in characters related to insect, such as "蚂蚁(mǎ yǐ, ants)", "蜘蛛(zhī zhū, spider)", "虾(xiā, prawn)", "蛇(shé, snake)" and "蚊(wén, mosquito)". Sometimes, this radical can also appear at the bottom of a character, such as "蚕(cán, silkworm)" and "蟹(xiè, crab)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
蝴
蝶
蜂
蛙
蝇
This article has only scratched the surface of left-side radicals in Chinese characters. To dive deeper into the world of radicals and characters, we invite you to enroll in our Chinese classes. Gain a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of Chinese characters and their radicals by signing up today.