Dont despair!

Even native speakersunless theyre actively studying kanjidont know radicals very well either. To get to their level you basically just need to have a general idea of how the system works including some of its quirks (like those explained above), and also remember terms for a few common radical forms. So, lets move on to some vocabulary! Actually, once you get the basics, most of the time you can come up with these terms on the spot. For example; is the word for a radical on the left side of a kanji, so is , is ), is () , and so on. First, a quick note: while each kanji has only one (), or radical, which is used for classification purposes. Kanji are usually made up of multiple components (: ). Various kanji components are also referred to as radicals (especially in English), which in the strict definition of radical is incorrect. Even so, the following terms are still useful for description and communication. For example, the of is , but you can still describe the kanji with the word (). In this list, I tried to cover common but not obviously-named radicals. Heres a link (Japanese) to a much more complete collection if youre interested. The Japanese Wikipedia article on radicals is also packed with detailed info. The English Wikipedia article isnt so shabby either. Most radicals can be classified in one of seven types, depending on their position in the kanji.

Table: Basic Radical Vocabulary

This table gives the names of various components (in hiragana), and several example kanji for each. If I thought clarification was helpful or necessary, I added the kanji on which the component is based in parenthesis after the hiragana reading.

- Radical (for classification)

Left-side component () ()

() () () ()

 ()

()

Right-side component () ()

()

Top-side component () () ()

()
() Bottom-side component

()
() Top+left-side component

Bottom+left component

()
Enclosing component

A couple other quirks

Theres a couple radicals that appear identical, but are actually considered different. Look at the these two characters:

See that ? Well on the left, its the moon radical (). But on the right its the flesh radical (). The too components look and are written exactly the same, but if the meaning of the kanji has anything to do with the body, its the radical. So in the component is called but in its called . Next, look at these:

The radicals of these kanji are also written and look the same, but differ according to what kanji they are based on. s radical is , and this form is called ) . is , and in this instance is referred to as (). Finally, I want to mention the kanji . Ever thought it strange that the kanji for writing had the sun radical? Yes, the on the bottom is the radical. But its not . Its actually derived from (). Look closely: . is a pretty rare kanji/radical that means to speak. The bottom piece of is still written as , but just know that the kanji isnt actually classified that way.