Learn Chinese Radicals Part III: Upper Radicals
Recap Part II:
Right-Side Radicals
In the previous blog post, you've learned several common right-side radicals. To recap, they are:
刂 - long knife
阝- right ear
页 - page
攵 - writing
卩 - hard ear
Do note that there are many other right-side radicals, here are only five of them.
The Upper Radicals
In this article, let's take a look at the common radicals that fall on the upper part of a character.
"艹" - 草字头(cǎo zì tóu, grass)
This radical is radical for the character "草(cǎo)" which means grass. This radical is made of one horizontal stroke which represents the ground and two short vertical strokes which represent the roots. There are many Chinese characters with this radical, and many of them are related to plants. For example, "茉莉(mò lì, jasmine)", "花(huā, flower)", "芹菜(qín cài, celery)" and "芽(yá, bud)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
苦
芝
茶
葱
蔬
Let’s check their pronunciations below:
"𥫗" - 竹字头(zhú zì tóu, bamboo)
This upper radical is related to bamboo, which is "竹(zhú)" in Chinese. Bamboo is an important plant that is used in China since 7000 years ago, which can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty (商朝, shāng cháo). Bamboo was used in various fields, such as food, transport, housing, music instruments, and weapons. Some examples of characters with this radical are "筒(tǒng, tube)", "篮(lán, basket)", "笔(bǐ, pen)" and "笛(dí, flute)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
竿
筷
箱
箭
管
"宀" - 宝盖儿(bǎo gài er, roof)
Characters with this radical are usually related to the house and the place that people live or stay. It is shaped like a roof, and hence it is written this way. Let's look at its transformation from its oracle form:
From the diagram above, we can see how this radical is derived because it looks like the contour of a roof. Some characters with this radical include "宇宙(yǔ zhòu, universe)", "牢(láo, prison)", "宿(sù, stay)" and "室(shì, room)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
容
宝
宽
宾
寄
"雨" - 雨字头(yǔ zì tóu, rain)
Characters with this radical are usually got to do with the weather. This radical can be a single-component character by itself, it is pronounced as "雨(yǔ)" which means rain. When it becomes a radical, it is written on the upper half of a character. Some examples include "雪(xuě, snow)", "雾(wù, fog)", "雷(léi, thunder)", "霜(shuāng, frost)", and "霞(xiá, glow)".
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
露
霉
零
雹
震
"爫" - 爪字头(zhuǎ zì tóu, claw)
This radical is derived from the character "爪", which means claw. This character has two pronunciation, one is (爪, zhuǎ) which refers to the paws and the claws of a beast; the other is read as ((爪, zhǎo) which refers to the nail or the feet of birds. Characters with this radical are usually got to do with hand or hand movement. Some examples include "爱(ài, love)", "采(cǎi, collect)" and "觅(seek, mì)". Take 爱 for example, love often involves touch, which requires the hands to do so, that's why it has the claw radical.
Let's use this radical to check the meanings and Pinyin for the following characters in the dictionary:
舀
爵
受
妥
In this post, we've learned some upper radicals and new characters. If you want to know the possible word collocations for the characters mentioned above, check it with your teacher at Hanhai Language Studio. There are other upper radicals not covered here. If you want to learn more about radicals and characters, sign up for our Chinese classes to get an in-depth understanding of Chinese characters and their radicals. Also, stay tuned to this blog as there are other articles in this "Learn Chinese Radicals" series. See you!