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The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

Jun 01, 2018

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  • 8/9/2019 The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

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    Kanji aliveA free study tool for reading and writing kanji

    The 214 traditional kanji radicals and theirvariants

    Kanji are classi᱄ed in kanji dictionaries according to their main components which are called radicals

    (roots) in English and部首 (ぶしゅ) in Japanese.部 (ぶ) means a group and首 (しゅ) means a chief. There

    are 214 historical radicals derived from the 18th century Kangxi dictionary.

    Every kanji without exception only has one radical /部首 (ぶしゅ). Each radical has a meaning(s) and

    lends its meaning(s) to the kanji of which it is part. Please take a look at the examples below. The right

    part of these three kanji is the same but the left part is dierent. The left part of these kanji is their

    radical. Note how each radical imparts its meaning to the kanji:

    時: The radical of this kanji is日 (sun, day, time). The meaning of this kanji is “time.”

    詩: The radical of this kanji is言 (words, to speak, say). The meaning of this kanji is “poetry, poem”.

    持: The radical of this kanji is扌(hand). The meaning of this kanji is “to hold”.

    For this reason it is very important to learn each kanji’s radical, as well as the meaning(s) of its radical.

    Not all 214 radicals are in use in current Japanese but you will soon become familiar with the most

    important ones and their variants.

    There are no ocial Japanese names for radicals. But there are certain commonly-used names. That is

    why you will ᱄nd dierences in the Japanese names for the radicals on dierent websites and

    dictionaries.

    Radicals are categorized into seven main groups according to their position within a kanji. Please note

    that some kanji are also radicals in and of themselves (such as大,日,月). In those cases, the kanji and

    the radical are one and the same, and thus the position of the radical in the kanji is irrelevant. As a

    result they do not fall into any one of the seven categories.

    へん (hen) Radicals on the left side of the kanji

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_Dictionaryhttp://kanjialive.com/http://kanjialive.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_Dictionary

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    つくり (tsukuri) Radicals on the right

    かんむり (kanmuri) Radicals on the top

    あし (ashi) Radicals on the bottom

    かまえ (kamae) Radicals which enclose the kanji

    たれ (tare) Radicals which "hang down"

    にょう (nyou) Radicals which wrap around the bottom of a character

    With our web app (http://app.kanjialive.com) you can search for radicals by name, stroke or meaning

    using the Advanced Search syntax (for example, rjn:miru  or rjn:みる  to search by Japanese name,

    rs:7  to search by stroke number and rem:see  to search by English meaning). Please consult our User

    Guide for additional search options.

    Tip: By default, the radicals in the list below are presented in ascending stroke order. However you can

    also focus on a speci᱄c stroke number or look for individual radicals by using the “Search” ᱄eld at the

    top of the table. Alternatively you can click on a column heading to sort the entire table by that heading.

    This is also a good way to focus on just the most important radicals. Clicking on the “a variant of..” link

    scrolls the page to the original version of that radical.

    Tip: You can also use the table’s own search ᱄eld to search/᱄lter radicals by position. Use the radical

    positions table as a reference. For example, to view all radicals in the “hang down” position, typeたれ or

    “tare” into the search ᱄eld. To avoid ambiguities amongst the dierent kinds of “enclosed” radicals,

    search for these in hiragana. Placing your mouse pointer over any position symbol in the radical table

    reveals its Japanese name.

    Tip: If you’d like a copy of the radicals tables in a format better suited for printing or if you’d like to re-

    use the data in another application, please download the Japanese Radicals font described below. In its

    directory you’ll ᱄nd copies of the table in PDF and CSV formats.

    http://app.kanjialive.com/http://kanjialive.com/user-guide/#advsearchhttps://github.com/kintopp/Kanji-alive/releases/latesthttp://kanjialive.com/user-guide/

  • 8/9/2019 The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

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    Search:

    Fonts: Many of the radical characters shown on this list are not supported by the Japanese fonts widely

    used on Windows, OS X or Linux (some not even in Unicode). For these reasons we created Japanese

    Radicals, a font based on Source Han Sans with 66 custom glyphs which adds support for

    every Japanese radical and variant. The font is freely available for private or commercial use.

    1⼀      

    one,

    horizontal

    stroke

    いち

    1⼁   

    vertical stroke   たてぼう

    1⼂    

    dot   てん

    1⼃    

    diagonal

    sweeping

    stroke

    1     

    diagonal

    sweeping

    stroke

    のかんむり   a   variant

    of ⼃    

    (の)

    1⼄     

    the second   おつ

    1⺃     

    the second   おつ   a   variant

    of ⼄       (お

    つ)

    1⼅   

    vertical stroke

    with a hook

    はねぼう

    2⼆      

    two   に

    STROKE#     RADICAL     POSITION     MEANING     READING     NOTES     IMPORTANCE  

    https://github.com/kintopp/Kanji-alive/releases/latesthttps://github.com/kintopp/Kanji-alive/releases/latesthttp://-/?-https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kintopp/Kanji-alive/master/Japanese%20Radicals%20font/60-custom-glyphs.pnghttp://blog.typekit.com/2014/07/15/introducing-source-han-sans/http://-/?-

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    2⼇      

    lid, top   なべぶた Important

    2⼈      

    person   ひと

    2⺅   

    person   にんべん   a   variant

    of ⼈      

      (ひと)

    Important

    2      

    person   ひとやね   a   variant

    of ⼈        (ひ

    と)

    Important

    2⼉      

    human legs   ひとあし Important

    2⼊      

    to enter   いる

    2⼋      

    eight   はち

    2      

    eight   はちがしら   a   variant

    of  ⼋         (は

    ち)

    2⼌     

    to enclose   けいがまえ

    2⼍     

    cover, crown   わかんむり Important

    2⼎  

    ice   にすい

    2⼏      

    table   きにょう

    2⺇      

    wind   かぜかんむ

    2⼐     

    container,

    open box

    かんにょう

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    2⼑     

    knife, sword   かたな

    2⺉     

    knife, sword   りっとう   a   variant

    of ⼑       (か

    たな)

    Important

    2⼒     

    power   ちから

    2⼓     

    to wrap   つつみがま

    2⼔      

    spoon   さじ

    2⼕     

    box   はこがまえ

    2⼖      

    to conceal,

    hide

    かくしがま

    2⼗      

    ten   じゅう

    2⼘     

    oracle   ぼく

    2⼙     

    stamp, seal   ふしづくり

    2⼚     

    cli    がんだれ Important

    2⼛     

    private,

    Katakana Mu

    2⼜      

    again, right

    hand

    また

    3⼝     

    mouth   くち

    3 mouth   くちへん   a   variant Important

    http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    of ⼝       (く

    ち)

    3⼞     

    border,

    territorial

    boundaries

    くにがまえ Important

    3⼟      

    earth   つち

    3  

    earth   つちへん   a   variant

    of ⼟        (つ

    ち)

    Important

    3⼠      

    man, scholar,

    samurai

    さむらい

    3     

    man, scholar,

    samurai

    さむらいか

    んむり

    a   variant

    of  ⼠         (さ

    むらい)

    3⼡      

    to follow   のまた

    3⼢      

    to go slowly   なつあし

    3⼣     

    evening   ゆうべ

    3⼤      

    large, big   だい

    3⼥      

    woman   おんな

    3   

    woman   おんなへん   a   variant

    of ⼥        (お

    んな)

    Important

    http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    3⼦      

    child, son   こ

    3   

    child, son   こへん   a   variant

    of ⼦      

    (こ)

    Important

    3⼧     

    roof, house   うかんむり Important

    3⼨      

    inch, (2.25

    cm)

    すん

    3      

    inch, (2.25

    cm)

    すんづくり   a   variant

    of ⼨        (す

    ん)

    3⼩      

    small   しょう

    3⺌     

    small   しょうかん

    むり

    a   variant

    of ⼩        (し

    ょう)

    3⺐      

    lame leg   だいのまげ

    あし

    3⼫     

    corpse,

    awning

    しかばね

    3⼬     

    sprout   くさのめ

    3⼭     

    mountain   やま

    3  

    mountain   やまへん   a   variant

    of  ⼭        (や

    ま)

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    3     

    mountain   やまかんむ

    a   variant

    of ⼭       (や

    ま)

    3⼮     

    winding river   まがりがわ

    3川     

    river   さんぼんが

    a   variant

    of  ⼮        (ま

    がりがわ)

    3⼯      

    work,

    carpenter,

    skill

    たくみ

    3   

    work,

    carpenter,

    skill

    たくみへん   a   variant

    of ⼯        (た

    くみ)

    3⼰      

    self    おのれ

    3⼱     

    cloth   はば

    3   

    cloth   はばへん   a   variant

    of  ⼱        (は

    ば)

    3⼲      

    to dry, shield   かん

    3⺓      

    young, slight   いとがしら

    3⼴      

    slanting roof    まだれ Important

    3⼵      

    to move,

    stretch

    えんにょう

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    3⼶      

    folded hands   にじゅうあ

    3⼷      

     javelin   いぐるみ

    3⼸     

    bow(in

    archery)

    ゆみ

    3  

    bow(in

    archery)

    ゆみへん   a   variant

    of ⼸       (ゆ

    み)

    3⼹      

    pig’s head   けいがしら

    3⺕      

    pig’s head   けいがしら   a   variant

    of ⼹        (け

    いがしら)

    3⺔      

    pig’s head   けいがしら   a   variant

    of ⼹        (け

    いがしら)

    3⼺     

    hair-style,

    light rays

    さんづくり

    3⼻   

    step, stride,

    street, to go

    ぎょうにん

    べん

    Important

    3⺾     

    grass   くさかんむ

    a   variant

    of  ⾋        (く

    さ)

    Important

    3⻌      

    road, walk, to

    advance

    しんにょう   a   variant

    of  ⾡         (し

    んにょう)

    Important

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    3⻏      

    village,

    country, city

    おおざと   a   variant

    of ⾢       (む

    ら)

    Important

    3⻖   

    hill, mound   こざとへん   a   variant

    of ⾩      

      (こ

    ざと)

    Important

    3⺍     

    Katakana Tsu   つ

    3⺖   

    heart, mind,

    spirit

    りっしんべ

    a   variant

    of ⼼        (こ

    ころ)

    Important

    3⺘   

    hand   てへん   a   variant

    of ⼿      

    (て)

    Important

    3⺡   

    water   さんずい   a   variant

    of ⽔        (み

    ず)

    Important

    3⺨   

    beast   けものへん   a   variant

    of ⽝        (い

    ぬ)

    Important

    4⼼      

    heart, mind,

    spirit

    こころ

    4⺗     

    heart, mind,

    spirit

    したごころ   a   variant

    of ⼼        (こ

    ころ)

    4⼽      

    spear,

    weapon

    ほこ

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    4⼾     

    door   と

    4     

    door   とだれ   a   variant

    of ⼾     

    (と)

    4⼿      

    hand   て

    4⽀      

    branch   しにょう

    4⽁      

    activity, to

    strike, hit

    ぼくづくり

    4⺙      

    activity, to

    strike, hit

    ぼくづくり   a   variant

    of ⽁        (ぼ

    くづくり)

    Important

    4⽂      

    literature,

    letters

    ぶん

    4⽃      

    big dipper,

    ladle, 18 liters

    ますづくり

    4⽄      

    axe   おのづくり

    4⽅      

    direction, ᱜag   ほう

    4   

    direction, ᱜag   ほうへん   a   variant

    of  ⽅         (ほ

    う)

    4⽆      

    not   むにょう

    4⽇     

    sun, day, time   ひ

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    4  

    sun, day, time   ひへん   a   variant

    of ⽇     

    (ひ)

    Important

    4⽈     

    to say   ひらび

    4⽉     

    moon, month,

    period

    つき

    4⺝   

    moon, month,

    period

    つきへん   a   variant

    of ⽉       (つ

    き)

    4     meat, ᱜesh   にくづき   a   variant

    of ⾁       (に

    く)

    Important

    4⽊      

    tree, wood   き

    4   

    tree, wood   きへん   a   variant

    of ⽊      

    (き)

    Important

    4⽋      

    to lack, yawn   あくび

    4⽌      

    to stop   とめる

    4⽍     

    death &

    dying, to

    decompose

    がつ

    4   

    death &

    dying, to

    decompose

    がつへん   a   variant

    of ⽍       (が

    つ)

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    4⽎      

    lance shaft,

    action

    るまた

    4⽏      

    not, mother   なかれ

    4⽐      

    to compare   くらべる

    4⽑      

    hair   け

    4⽒      

    family, clan   うじ

    4⽓      

    steam, air   きがまえ

    4⽔      

    water   みず

    4⽕      

    ᱄re   ひ

    4   

    ᱄re   ひへん   a   variant

    of ⽕      

    (ひ)

    Important

    4⺣      

    ᱄re   れっか   a   variant

    of ⽕      

    (ひ)

    Important

    4⽖      

    claw, nail   つめ

    4⺤     

    claw, nail   つめかんむ

    a   variant

    of ⽖        (つ

    め)

    4爫      

    claw, nail   つめかんむ

    a   variant

    of ⽖        (つ

    め)

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    4⽗      

    father   ちち

    4⽘      

    to mix   こう

    4⽙    

    split wood   しょうへん

    4⽚     

    split wood   かた

    4   

    split wood   かたへん   a   variant

    of ⽚       (か

    た)

    4     

    fang, canine

    tooth

    きば

    4⽜      

    cow   うし

    4   

    cow   うしへん   a   variant

    of ⽜        (う

    し)

    4⽝      

    dog   いぬ

    4  

     jewelry,

     jeweled king

    おうへん   a   variant

    of ⽟        (た

    ま)

    Important

    4⺭    

    altar, festival,

    religious

    service

    しめすへん   a   variant

    of ⽰        (し

    めす)

    Important

    4㓁      

    net   あみがしら   a   variant

    of ⽹       (あ

    み)

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    4⺹      

    old, old-age   おいかんむ

    a   variant

    of ⽼        (お

    いかんむ

    り)

    5⽞      

    darkness   げん

    5⽟      

     jewelry   たま

    5      

    melon   うり

    5⽡      

    tile   かわら

    5⽢      

    sweet   あまい

    5⽣      

    birth, to be

    born, live

    うまれる

    5⽤     

    to use   もちいる

    5 ⽥      rice paddy   た

    5   

    rice paddy   たへん   a   variant

    of ⽥     

    (た)

    5⽦      

    bolt of cloth   ひき

    5⺪   

    bolt of cloth   ひきへん   a   variant

    of  ⽦         (ひ

    き)

    5⽧      

    sickness   やまいだれ Important

    5⽨      

    outspread   はつがしら

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    legs,

    departure

    5⽩     

    white   しろ

    5   

    white   はくへん   a   variant

    of ⽩       (し

    ろ)

    5⽪      

    skin, hide   けがわ

    5⽫      

    plate, bowl   さら

    5⽬     

    eye   め

    5  

    eye   めへん   a   variant

    of ⽬     

    (め)

    Important

    5     

    eye   よこめ   a   variant

    of ⽬     

    (め)

    5⽭      

    halberd   ほこ

    5   

    halberd   ほこへん   a   variant

    of ⽭        (ほ

    こ)

    5⽮      

    arrow   や

    5   

    arrow   やへん   a   variant

    of ⽮      

    (や)

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    5⽯     

    stone   いし

    5   

    stone   いしへん   a   variant

    of ⽯       (い

    し)

    5⽰      

    altar, festival,

    religious

    service

    しめす

    5⽱     

    footprint   じゅうのあ

    5⽲      

    grain   のぎへん Important

    5⽳      

    hole, cave   あな

    5     

    hole, cave   あなかんむ

    a   variant

    of ⽳        (あ

    な)

    Important

    5⽴      

    to stand   たつ

    5   

    to stand   たつへん   a   variant

    of ⽴        (た

    つ)

    5     

    fang, canine

    tooth

    きば   a   variant

    of         (き

    ば)

    5   

    fang, canine

    tooth

    きばへん   a   variant

    of ⽛        (き

    ば)

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    5氺      

    water   したみず   a   variant

    of ⽔        (み

    ず)

    5⺫     

    net   あみがしら   a   variant

    of  ⽹        (あ

    み)

    5☧     

    net   あみがしら   a   variant

    of ⽹       (あ

    み)

    5⻂   

    clothing   ころもへん   a   variant

    of ⾐        (こ

    ろも)

    Important

    5⺛      

    not   むにょう   a   variant

    of ⽆        (む

    にょう)

    6⽵      

    bamboo   たけ

    6⺮      

    bamboo   たけかんむ

    a   variant

    of ⽵        (た

    け)

    Important

    6⽶      

    rice   こめ

    6   

    rice   こめへん   a   variant

    of ⽶        (こ

    め)

    Important

    6⽷      

    thread   いと

    http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-

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    6   

    thread   いとへん   a   variant

    of ⽷        (い

    と)

    Important

    6⽸      

    earthen jar   みずがめ

    6⽹     

    net   あみめ

    6⽺      

    sheep   ひつじ

    6⺷      

    sheep   ひつじ   a   variant

    of ⽺        (ひ

    つじ)

    6羽     

    feather, wing   はね

    6⽻     

    feather, wing   はね   a   variant

    of  羽        (は

    ね)

    6 ⽼       old, old-age  おいかんむ

    6⽽      

    and also   しこうして

    6⽾      

    plow   らいすき

    6⽿      

    ear  みみ

    6   

    ear   みみへん   a   variant

    of  ⽿         (み

    み)

    6⾀      

    writing brush   ふでづくり

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    6⾁     

    ᱜesh, meat   にく

    6⾂     

    retainer,

    minister

    しん

    6⾃     

    self    みずから

    6⾄      

    to arrive,

    reach

    いたる

    6    

    to arrive,

    reach

    いたるへん   a   variant

    of ⾄        (い

    たる)

    6⾅     

    mortar, quern   うす

    6⾆      

    tongue   した

    6⾇      

    contrary, to

    err

    まいあし

    6⾈      

    ship, boat   ふね

    6   

    ship, boat   ふねへん   a   variant

    of ⾈        (ふ

    ね)

    6⾉      

    boundary   こん

    6⾊      

    color   いろ

    6⾋     

    grass, plant   くさ

    6⾌     

    tiger   とらがしら

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    6⾍      

    worm, insect,

    bug

    むし

    6   

    worm, insect,

    bug

    むしへん   a   variant

    of ⾍        (む

    し)

    Important

    6⾎      

    blood   ち

    6⾏      

    to go   ぎょうがま

    Important

    6⾐      

    clothing   ころも

    6⾑      

    cover, west   にし

    6⻃     

    cover, west   にし   a   variant

    of ⾑        (に

    し)

    6⽠      

    melon   うり   a   variant

    of ⽠        (う

    り)

    7⾒      

    to see   みる

    7⾓     

    horn, corner   つの

    7   

    horn, corner   つのへん   a   variant

    of ⾓       (つ

    の)

    7⾔      

    words, to

    speak, say

    げん

    7 words, to   ごんべん   a   variant Important

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    speak, say   of ⾔        (げ

    ん)

    7⾕      

    valley   たに

    7   

    valley   たにへん   a   variant

    of ⾕        (た

    に)

    7⾖      

    bean   まめ

    7   

    bean   まめへん   a   variant

    of  ⾖         (ま

    め)

    7⾗      

    pig   いのこ

    7⾘     

    badger   むじなへん

    7 ⾙      shell,property,

    wealth

    かい

    7   

    shell,

    property,

    wealth

    かいへん   a   variant

    of ⾙       (か

    い)

    Important

    7⾚      

    red   あか

    7⾛      

    to run   はしる

    7      

    to run   そうにょう   a   variant

    of ⾛        (は

    しる)

    Important

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    7⾜      

    foot, leg   あし

    7⻊   

    foot, leg   あしへん   a   variant

    of ⾜        (あ

    し)

    Important

    7⾝     

    body   み

    7   

    body   みへん   a   variant

    of ⾝     

    (み)

    7⾞      

    vehicle,

    wheel, car

    くるま

    7   

    vehicle,

    wheel, car

    くるまへん   a   variant

    of ⾞        (く

    るま)

    Important

    7⾟      

    bitter   からい

    7⾠      

    Fifth zodiac

    sign, 7–9 A.M.

    しんのたつ

    7⾡      

    to advance,

    move ahead

    しんにょう

    7⾢     

    community   むら

    7⾣      

    sake jar, bird   ひよみのと

    7   

    sake jar, bird   とりへん   a   variant

    of  ⾣         (ひ

    よみのと

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    り)

    7⾤      

    to separate   のごめ

    7   

    to separate   のごめへん   a   variant

    of ⾤        (の

    ごめ)

    7⾥      

    village, (3.93

    km)

    さと

    7   

    village, (3.93

    km)

    さとへん   a   variant

    of ⾥        (さ

    と)

    7⾂     

    retainer,

    minister

    しん   a   variant

    of ⾂       (し

    ん)

    7      

    contrary, to

    err

    まいあし   a   variant

    of  ⾇         (ま

    いあし)

    7⻨      

    wheat   むぎ   a   variant

    of  ⿆         (む

    ぎ)

    8⾦      

    metal, gold,

    mineral

    かね

    8   

    metal, gold,

    mineral

    かねへん   a   variant

    of ⾦        (か

    ね)

    Important

    8⻑      

    long   ながい

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    8⾨     

    gate, door   もんがまえ Important

    8⾩      

    hill   こざと

    8⾪      

    to capture   れいづくり

    8⾫      

    small bird   ふるとり

    8⾬      

    rain   あめ

    8⻗     

    rain   あめかんむ

    a   variant

    of  ⾬         (あ

    め)

    Important

    8⾭     

    blue, green   あお

    8⻘     

    blue, green   あお   a   variant

    of  ⾭        (あ

    お)

    8⾮      

    wrong, non-   あらず

    8⻟   

    food, to eat   しょくへん   a   variant

    of  ⾷         (し

    ょく)

    8⻫      

    alike   せい   a   variant

    of  ⿑         (せ

    い)

    9⾯     

    face, surface   めん

    9⾰      

    leather   つくりがわ

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    9     

    leather   なめしがわ

    9⾲      

    leek   にら

    9⾳      

    sound, noise   おと

    9⾴     

    head, page   おおがい Important

    9⾵      

    wind   かぜ

    9⾶      

    to ᱜy   とぶ

    9⾷      

    food, to eat   しょく

    9⾸      

    head   くび

    9⾹      

    scent   かおり

    10⾺     

    horse   うま

    10   

    horse   うまへん   a   variant

    of  ⾺        (う

    ま)

    10⾻     

    bone   ほね

    10   

    bone   ほねへん   a   variant

    of  ⾻        (ほ

    ね)

    10⾼     

    high   たかい

    10⾽      

    long hair   かみかんむ

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    10⾾     

    ᱄ghting   たたかいが

    まえ

    10⾿     

    herbs   においざけ

    10⿀     

    tripod   れき

    10⿁      

    demon   おに

    10⾱     

    leather   なめしがわ   a   variant

    of        (な

    めしがわ)

    11⿂      

    ᱄sh   うお

    11   

    ᱄sh   うおへん   a   variant

    of  ⿂         (う

    お)

    Important

    11⿃     

    bird   とり

    11⿄     

    salt   しお

    11⿅      

    deer   しか

    11⿆      

    wheat   むぎ

    11⿇      

    hemp   あさ

    11      

    hemp   あさかんむ

    a   variant

    of  ⿇         (あ

    さ)

    11⻩      

    yellow   き   a   variant

    of  ⿈      

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    (き)

    11黒      

    black   くろ   a   variant

    of  ⿊         (く

    ろ)

    11⻲      

    turtle   かめ   a   variant

    of  ⿔         (か

    め)

    12⿈      

    yellow   き

    12⿉      

    millet   きび

    12⿊      

    black   くろ

    12⿋      

    embroider   ぬいとり

    12⻭      

    tooth   は   a   variant

    of  ⿒      

    (は)

    13⿌      

    frog   かえる

    13⿍      

    tripod   かなえ

    13⿎      

    drum   つづみ

    13⿏      

    rat, mouse   ねずみ

    14⿐     

    nose   はな

    14⿑      

    alike   せい

    15⿒      

    tooth   は

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    16⿓      

    dragon   りゅう

    16⿔      

    turtle   かめ

    17⿕      

    ᱜute   やく

    References:

    The English meanings of each radical in Kanji alive are based on Kanji & Kana by Wolfgang Hadamitzky &

    Mark Spahn, (1981), Tuttle Publishing with additional reference to Basic Kanji  by Matsuo Soga & Michio

    Yusa (1989), Taishūkan, and Andrew N. Nelson, The Original Modern Reader’s Japanese-English Character 

    Dictionary: Classic Edition, 2nd. ed. (1974), Tuttle Publishing. The Japanese names for the radicals are

    based on『講談社カラー版日本語大辞典』(第一版)1989,講談社.

    Back to the top

    23 thoughts on “The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their variants”

    Complete and clear, I ᱄nd this very helpful for those starting to learn kanji.

    Alex

    August 2, 2013 at 9:33 am

    I don’t understand where you use 5 strokes for water. In Kanji Alive Web Interface, water has 4 strokes.

    氺waterしたみず45

    ijiAugust 20, 2013 at 5:55 am

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    Hi iji, thank you for your note. “shitamizu” is a variant of “mizu” so in the Kangxi dictionary “shitamizu”

    was listed under 4 strokes. However, when you count the strokes of “shitamizu”, there are 5 strokes so

    we decided to list it in Kanji alive under 5 strokes.

    my Windows XP & browsers can’t display some of the radicals (such as ひとやね,かぜ a.s.o.).

    is it a font-related problem?

    Hi iji, yes, this is a font related problem. Unfortunately most Japanese fonts do not include enough

    glyphs (graphical representations of characters) to cover all the radical variants. I can oer two

    suggestions:

    The ᱄rst is to switch to Microsoft’s Meiryo font to show Japanese on the web by following these simple

    instructions on our website. This will improve the readability of all Japanese text on any website and

    should also provide support for more radical glyphs. However, there will still be a few radicals which

    can’t be displayed in Meiryo either.

    To address this, you could install the free Mplus outline fonts. These will de᱄nitely include support for

    the radicals used in Kanji alive. We didn’t provide instructions for doing this on our website since the

    process is potentially a little more complicated but if you’re interested in using Mplus we would be more

    than happy to assist you.

    hlory

    August 20, 2013 at 10:12 am

    iji

    August 26, 2013 at 9:31 am

    Arno Bosse

    August 26, 2013 at 10:11 am

    http://mplus-fonts.osdn.jp/mplus-outline-fonts/index-en.htmlhttp://kanjialive.com/2013/04/selecting-a-better-japanese-font-for-windows-web-browsers/

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    Thank you very much. I wasn’t aware of the Meiryo font. I did have problems with readability and I was

    zooming a lot most of the time :)

    As for the M+ font, I don’t think it’s worth the trouble for me at this point in time.

    ijiAugust 27, 2013 at 4:24 pm

    Hi, What do you think is the suggested writing to use, is it Kanji or Hiragana? I think it’s hard to learn the

    Kanji. But I want to learn Nihon-go. :)

    Hi PheDz,

    There are three writing systems in Japanese: Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana. Beginners of the Japanese

    language always learn how to read and write Hiragana and Katakana because they are phonetic

    symbols. The readings of kanji are sometimes written in Hiragana along with the kanji. So once you

    learn how to read Hiragana, you can read any Japanese sentences even though you don’t know the

    meaning of them. For example,明日(あした)、私(わたし)は日本(にほん)へ行(い)きます。(Ashita watashi wa

    nihon he ikimasu. I am going to Japan tomorrow) So you need to learn Hiragana ᱄rst.

    However, you will need to learn kanji eventually because kanji are very useful to grasp the meaning of 

    words. Even just learning to recognize kanji is very helpful for you to understand the Japanese language.

    For example, please take a look at this sentence.はしのはしではしをかう。(Hashi no hashi de hashi o kau)

    This sentence is written in Hiragana only. You can see “はし” three times in this sentence. There are

    PheDzSeptember 13, 2013 at 1:59 am

    hlory

    September 20, 2013 at 8:27 pm

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    many dierent words with the same pronunciation in Japanese. Eachはし has a dierent meaning. But

    when you see the sentence in Hiragana, you can’t know which meaning the words in Hiragana have.

    However, when this sentence is written in kanji and Hiragana, the meanings are clear.橋の端で箸を買

    う。橋 (はし hashi)means a bridge,端 (はし hashi)means an end or edge and 箸 (はし hashi) means

    chopsticks. The meaning of the sentence is “(I am going to) buy chopsticks at the end of a bridge.”

    I hope you can understand how important learning kanji is for the study of Japanese. Each kanji has a

    story behind it. If you learn those stories through radicals and mnemonic hints, the study of kanji will

    become enjoyable for you. I hope Kanji alive will help to lead you eectively on this fun journey!

    That’s a great response! I am taking an beginning japanese course now, and I am about 98% con᱄dent

    in my hiragana (there’s a few that I keep getting mixed up) 50% of my katakana.

    I understand that there are multiple meanings to hashi as it is written in hiragana. But, doesn’t this also

    apply to how your example sentence is spoken, since hiragana is just a way to transcribe sounds?

    I think this is actually a very valid point and it’s not necessary to the understanding of Kanji. Of course

    we have to understand how to read Kanji but if someone were to say this sentence aloud how would

    you understand them? Or would you simply rephrase it to be better understood?

    Hi Rehn, I’m very sorry we didn’t respond to your comment in a timely manner – it somehow slipped our

    attention.

    Steve P

    October 25, 2013 at 2:27 am

    Rehn

    April 29, 2014 at 2:58 am

    Harumi Lory

    August 21, 2014 at 7:25 pm

    Post author

    http://kanjialive.com/

  • 8/9/2019 The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

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    When you read sentences in Japanese, a knowledge of kanji is helpful for grasping the meaning of 

    words easily. When you hear or speak the example sentence (hashi no hashi de hashi o kau), the

    intonation of “hashi” lets you know the meaning of each “hashi”, and the particles help you understand

    the meaning of the sentence. So it is important for learners of Japanese to learn all four skills (speaking,

    listening, reading and writing) at the same time.

    I’m wondering why the list is divided in this odd way, with the stroke numbers 1-12, and then starting

    again at 1 and going to 11.

    Hi Jac,

    Did you mean the list of kanji you get following a search in the Kanji alive web app? I only ask because

    you posted this question on the page with the list of 214 traditional radicals. I am assuming you meant

    the list of kanji shown in the Kanji alive web app after a search.

    Here, the results of your searches can be viewed in three dierent ways. Let’s assume, as in your

    example, some search you entered matched a group of kanji with strokes numbers between 1 and 12.

    Initially, these are shown sorted by kanji stroke number in ascending order, 1-12. Click once on the

    “Sort” button near the top of the web app’s window and you’ll now see the same set of kanji grouped byradical stroke number (i.e. the radicals found in the kanji matching the initial search term). If more than

    one kanji share a radical, then these are sorted again by their kanji stroke number. Click on the “Sort”

    button again, and you’ll see the same kanji grouped by their kanji stroke number. If several kanji share

    the same stroke number, these are then sorted again their radical stroke number. Click on “Sort” one

    more time and you’ll return to the initial (ungrouped) sort order, i.e. by kanji stroke number only. These

    three options are described more fully in the User Guide.

    I hope this helps make sense of what you’re seeing. If it does not, please email us at

     Jac kDecember 14, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    Arno Bosse

    December 14, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    http://kanjialive.com/user-guide/#resultshttp://app.kanjialive.com/http://kanjialive.com/214-traditional-kanji-radicals/http://app.kanjialive.com/

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    [email protected] with a description of the search term you used to produce your earlier results

    and we’ll try to make sense of what’s going on.

    Hi, thanks for posting this, I was looking for a place to to provide me with reference for studying the

    kanji radicals, however, I don’t seem to ᱄nd the stroke order of these radicals, where could I ᱄nd the

    stroke order?

    Hi Iuri, did you mean #1 the (stroke) order by which radicals are traditionally sorted, or #2 the actual

    order of written strokes in a radical itself? For the former, the default order in which the radicals are

    presented on this page is the same as their traditional order of representation, i.e. on the basis of their

    strokes counts.

    However, I think you probably meant #2. I’m not aware of an online resource with this information,

    though I am con᱄dent one exists. Of course, in the case of radicals which are also kanji, you can lookup

    their kanji stroke using e.g. our own web app, http://app.kanjialive.com. Moreover, since each kanji,

    precisely speaking, only contains exactly one radical, if you know any kanji which uses this radical, you

    can watch the stroke order of the whole kanji and thus discover the stroke order of the radical within it.

    Please see the introduction to this page for dierent ways to search for kanji by radical using the Kanji

    alive web app. I hope this helps!

    Iuri

     January 15, 2015 at 3:44 am

    Arno Bosse

     January 15, 2015 at 2:39 pm

    Thanks for your reply, and sorry for taking so long to answer, yes, I meant #2, I’m going to do what you

    suggested and look up for kanjis that have the radicals that I’m looking for, in order to get their stroke

    Iuri

    February 4, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    mailto:[email protected]://app.kanjialive.com/

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    order, again, thanks!

    Hi, i just want to tell to the author that i ᱄nd this page the most useful and best explained about the

     japanese radicals ( ´・ω・)つ旦.

    Thank you! We’re glad you’ve found it to be a useful resource.

    Laeark

    April 22, 2015 at 8:25 am

    Arno Bosse

    April 24, 2015 at 10:46 pm

    Post author

     Just ᱄nished Elementary Japanese II at the University of Tennessee. I only have about a hundred kanji,

    so far, but I am pretty good at it…so far:) This is a very helpful site…先生 uses it often. Working with

    various sources actually….White Rabbit Press Kanji Flash Card (Series 2, Vol. 1 and 2), Graded Reader 1

    (Vol. 1,2 , and 3), Genki I and II textbooks and workbooks), Genki Look-and-Learn Kanji, etc. It’s no more

    of a struggle than trying to remember the vocabulary, particles, the many conjugations of verbs,

    adjectives, nouns, etc…not to the sentence forms!! And the listening!! Wow…I’ve given up wondering

    why the sounds of the language don’t match the romaji….just go with the ᱜow…. しち as stigi (pardon

    my improve) orひと (人) as shtoo (again, pardon the improve. Sorry, getting o on a lot of tangents!

    Wonderful and VERY useful site!!!

    スミス

    May 3, 2015 at 6:04 am

    LeenaMay 22, 2015 at 11:46 pm

    http://kanjialive.com/

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    Hi, I am just a beginner in Japanese. For the ᱄rst months I’ve learned both Hiragana and Katakana and

    the basics in speaking but I think now it’s the time for me to ᱄nally learn kanji ;) I think this site will be

    very useful for me but I have a question. I’d like to learn all the radicals that are here before going any

    further but I’m confused about the on and kun-readings I’ve heard of. So here are given only the kun-

    readings? shouldn’t we learn them both with one kanji or not?

    Hi Leena, radicals don’t have On and Kun readings as such. They do have commonly used names or

    nicknames which are written in hiragana. The exception to this are the handful of radicals which are

    simultaneously also kanji. These kanji do have On and Kun readings.

    Especially as a beginner, it’s really not necessary for you to learn all of the radicals. Focus instead on the

    ones marked “Important” on http://kanjialive.com/214-traditional-kanji-radicals/ These radicals will be

    vital for your continued study of kanji.

    Lastly, even if you are learning kanji by yourself, it’s usually still a good idea to help organize your course

    of studies with the help of a good textbook. To see which textbooks are supported by Kanji alive, please

    visit http://kanjialive.com/supported-textbooks/

    Kanji aliveMay 25, 2015 at 5:31 pm

    Hi! I simply wanted to thank you!! It’s not a great contribution, but your site is so complete, useful and

    generous that I had to say it. :)

    And thank you – you’re very welcome.

    Diana

    May 24, 2015 at 8:19 am

    Kanji alive

    May 24, 2015 at 8:49 am

    http://kanjialive.com/214-traditional-kanji-radicals/http://kanjialive.com/supported-textbooks/

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