Section Headers or Radicals in Depth – Two Strokes, Radicals #7-12, Part One of Four

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Kangxi_radicals

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/scripts/wordlist.htm

http://en.wiktionary.org

Important Links:

http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/t/ttf-arphic-ukai/ttf-arphic-ukai_0.2.20080216.1.orig.tar.gz - Download extra Chinese fonts if you cannot view all the Chinese characters on your computer.

There are too many section headers with two strokes to cover in just one post. I will have to split it up into four parts instead. In this section, we will cover section headers #7-12. Additionally, I will make the entire section header / Radical list cheat sheet available at:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=BF8AED0897926D3C!174

Radical Number / Section Header	Strokes	Traditional Radical	Simplified Radical	Pinyin	Jyutping	Meaning
7	2	二		èr	ji6	two
8	2	亠		tóu	tau4	head
9	2	人(亻)		rén	jan4	person
10	2	儿		ér	jan4	child, “legs”
11	2	入		rù	jap6	to enter
12	2	八		bā	baat3	eight
13	2	冂		jiōng		wide
14	2	冖		mì		cover
15	2	冫		bīng		ice
16	2	几		jī		table
17	2	凵		kǎn		container, open mouth
18	2	刀(刂)		dāo		knife, sword
19	2	力		lì		power, force
20	2	勹		bāo		wrap, embrace
21	2	匕		bǐ		spoon
22	2	匚		fāng		box
23	2	匸		xǐ		hiding enclosure
24	2	十		shí		ten, complete
25	2	卜		bǔ		divination
26	2	卩		jié		kneel
27	2	厂		hàn		cliff
28	2	厶		sī		private
29	2	又		yòu		right hand

The radicals with two strokes are still fairly easy to write from top left to bottom right, if possible. Remember, you are only writing two strokes to complete each radical. If you write any more than two strokes, it is considered incorrect. Starting from radical thirteen, the two-stroke radicals will include combo strokes, but we don’t have to worry about that in this post.

#7) 二(èr in Mandarin,  ji6 in Cantonese)

This might not be a shock to you, but the section header 二 can become a section header and a character by itself at the same time. As a character, 二is the number “two.” If you can remember from the previous post, 一 was the character for number “one.” Add an extra, smaller line above it and we have the number two.  Careful though, as the character is written from top left to bottom right so the top line is written first, followed by the bottom line.

Let’s find out what characters fall into the 二 category:
NOTE: Like the previous post, all traditional characters are in BLUE font.

3 strokes	亍 于 亏 亐（Japanese Simplified Character）
4 strokes	云 互 亓 五 井 亖
5 strokes	亗
6 strokes	亘 亙 亚
7 strokes	亜（Japanese Simplified Character）
8 strokes	亝（Korean Simplified Character） 亞 亟些

What do we notice about this section header? I see that the 二 section header is either at the top, bottom, or found as a whole with one stroke on top and one stroke at the bottom.

#8) 亠 (tóu in Mandarin,  tau4 in Cantonese)

This radical is known as the “lid” radical as it looks like a lid or covering for a container. The actual meaning of this radical is “head.”

Characters that fall into the 亠 section header:

3 strokes	亡
4 strokes	亢 亣
6 strokes	交 亥 亦 产
7 strokes	亨 亩 亪
8 strokes	享 京
9 strokes	亭 亮 亯 亰 亱 亲
10 strokes	亳
11 strokes	亴 亵
12 strokes	亶 亷
13 strokes	亸
14 strokes	亹

You may notice, just like its definition of being the “head” part or the “lid” part, the 亠 radical is logically always found at the top of a character. If you ever come across a character with a 亠 on top, chances are, it belongs in this section header like the characters found in this section.

#9) 人(亻) (rén in Mandarin, jan4 in Cantonese)

I don’t want to overwhelm you with this section header or radical, but it’s such a popular one that we should really recognize it. Both the 人and亻radical  is defined as “person or human-being” and share the same section header.

人is actually a character by itself for “person or human-being.”  We can also say 人 stands for “mankind”  since historically, in English, we use the word “man” to include all people. The亻radical essentially has the same meaning as the 人 radical, except 亻is not used as a character by itself. Only人can be both a radical and a character.

In Cantonese, we refer to 亻as the 企人邊 kei5  jan4 bin1 (literally standing person side). If you take a look at the character 人 , which looks  a walking person, and how 人 transforms to 亻, it looks like亻depicts a person standing up. In Mandarin, the same phrase is 企人边qi3 ren2 bian1. Other similar terms are: 

單企人(daan1 kei5 jan4 in Cantonese.  dan1 qi3 ren2 in Mandarin, but this term is strictly a Cantonese term) – It literally means “solo standing person”

單立人 (daan1 lap6 jan4 in Cantonese) / 单立人(dan1 li4 ren2 in Mandarin) – 立 is another term for standing up straight or at attention. The literal meaning is the same as the previous term except立might give you a different imagery.

單人旁 (daan1 jan4 pong4 in Cantonese / 单人旁(dan1 ren2 pang2 in Mandarin) – By now, you should recognize 單人 means “solo person” and 旁 means “beside” or “next to.” You will realize why this term is used in the next paragraphs.

人字旁(jan4 zi6 pong4 in Cantonese, ren2 zi4 pang2 in Mandarin) – It literally means “person, word, side.” This translates to “the side of the word, ‘human’.”

OK. I’ve done enough teasing. Why do we call it a side? You will see below.

Characters that fall into the 人 or亻 section header:

3 strokes	亼 亽 亾 亿
4 strokes	什 仁 仂 仃 仄 仅 仆 仇 仈 仉 今 介 仌 仍 从 仏 仐 仑 仒 仓
5 strokes	仔 仕 他 仗 付 仙 仚 仛 仜 仝 仞 仟 仠 仡 仢 代 令 以 仦 仧 仨 仩 仪 仫 们 仭 𠆩 <-if the character does not display, the image is on the right or I included the link: http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/8294/)
6 strokes	仮 仯 仰 仱 仲 仳 仴 仵 件 价 仸 仹 仺 任 仼 份 仾 仿 伀 企 伂 伃 伄 伅 伆 伇 伈 伉 伊 伋 伌 伍 伎 伏 伐 休 伒 伓 伔 伕 伖 众 优 伙 会 伛 伜 伝 伞 伟 传 伡 伢 伣 伤 伥 伦 伧 伨 伩 伪 伫 伬
7 strokes	伭 伮 伯 估 伱 伲 伳 伴 伵 伶 伷 伸 伹 伺 伻 似 伽 伾 伿 佀 佁 佂 佃 佄 佅 但 佇 佈 佉 佊 佋 佌 位 低 住 佐 佑 佒 体 佔 何 佖 佗 佘 余 佚 佛 作 佝 佞 佟 你 佡 佢 佣 佤 佥 佦 佧 佨 来
8 strokes	佩 佪 佫 佬 佭 佮 佯 佰 佱 佲 佳 佴 併 佶 佷 佸 佹 佺 佻 佼 佽 佾 使 侀 侁 侂 侃 侄 侅 來 侇 侈 侉 侊 例 侌 侍 侎 侏 侐 侑 侒 侓 侔 侕 侖 侗 侘 侙 侚 供 侜 依 侞 侟 侠 価 侢 侣 侤 侥 侦 侧 侨 侩 侪 侫 侬 侭
9 strokes	侮 侯 侰 侱 侲 侳 侴 侵 侶 侷 侸 侹 侺 侻 侼 侽 侾 便 俀 俁 係 促 俄 俅 俆 俇 俈 俉 俊 俋 俌 俍 俎 俏 俐 俑 俒 俓 俔 俕 俖 俗 俘 俙 俚 俛 俜 保 俞 俟 俠 信 俢 俣 俤 俥 俦 俧 俨 俩 俪 俫 俬 俭
10 strokes	修 俯 俰 俱 俲 俳 俴 俵 俶 俷 俸 俹 俺 俻 俼 俽 俾 俿 倀 倁 倂 倃 倄 倅 倆 倇 倈 倉 倊 個 倌 倍 倎 倏 們 倒 倓 倔 倕 倖 倗 倘 候 倚 倛 倜 倝 倞 借 倠 倡 倢 倣 値 倥 倦 倧 倨 倩 倪 倫 倬 倭 倮 倯 倰 倱 倲 倳 倴 倵 倶 倷 倸 倹 债 倽 倾 倿值
11 strokes	倻 偀 偁 偂 偃 偄 偅 偆 假 偈 偉 偊 偋 偌 偍 偎 偏 偐 偑 偒 偓 偔 偕 偖 偗 偘 偙 做 偛 停 偝 偞 偟 偠 偡 偢 偣 偤 健 偦 偧 偨 偩 偪 偫 偬 偭 偮 偯 偰 偱 偲 偳 側 偵 偶 偷 偸 偹 偺 偻 偼 偽 偾 偿
12 strokes	傀 傁 傂 傃 傄 傅 傆 傇 傈 傉 傊 傋 傌 傍 傎 傏 傐 傑 傒 傓 傔 傕 傖 傗 傘 備 傚 傛 傜 傝 傞 傟 傠 傡 傢 傣 傤 傥 傦 傧 储 傩
13 strokes	傪 傫 催 傭 傮 傯 傰 傱 傲 傳 傴 債 傶 傷 傸 傹 傺 傻 傼 傽 傾 傿 僀 僁 僂 僃 僄 僅 僆 僇 僈 僉 僊 僋 僌 働 儍 𠍁
14 strokes	僎 像 僐 僑 僒 僓 僔 僕 僖 僗 僘 僙 僚 僛 僜 僝 僞 僟 僠 僡 僢 僣 僤 僥 僦 僧 僨 僩 僪 僫 僬 僭 僮 僯 僰 僱 僲 僳 僴
15 strokes	僵 僶 僷 僸 價 僺 僻 僼 僽 僾 僿 儀 儁 儂 儃 億 儅 儆 儇 儈 儉 儊 儋 儌儎 儏 儰
16 strokes	儐 儑 儒 儓 儔 儕 儖 儗 儘 儙 儚 儛 儜 儝 儞 儫
17 strokes	償 儠 儡 儢 儣 儤 儥 儦 儧 儨 儩 優 儬
18 strokes	儭 儮 儯 儱 儲
19  strokes	儳 儴 儵
20 strokes	儶
21 strokes	儷 儸 儹 儺
22 strokes	儻 儼
23 strokes	儽
24 strokes	儾

You may not notice the answer with 人section header since the section header is usually found on the top of the character or in rare cases, the bottom of the character, but definitely with the亻section header. The 亻section header is always found on the left side of the word. This is the reason why this radical is called the 企人邊 ”standing person side.” There are so many words that use this 企人邊 section header so I think this radical is one of the important ones to recognize. Also, for the most part, if a character has this radical, it means that the meaning is most likely human or person-related.

#10) 儿 (ér in Mandarin, jan4 in Cantonese)

The 儿 section header is another variant of the previous section header, 人.  儿 was used in ancient times as a character for 人. If you look at 儿 as a pictogram, it looks like the bottom half of a person who is standing up. Hence, this radical is referred to as “legs” but does not take the literal meaning of legs.

In modern times, 儿, extracted  from the traditional character 兒 by removing the 臼 part, acts as the simplified Chinese character for “son” or “child.” 儿 or 兒, in its traditional form, is also important when speaking the Beijing dialect as 儿/兒 also acts as a  particle attached to many common adverbs and nouns.

To sum it up, we have three uses for 儿: Section header/Radical, character 儿/兒, and Beijing particle 儿/兒.

Characters that fall in the 儿 section header:

3 strokes	兀
4 strokes	允 兂 元
5 strokes	兄
6 strokes	充 兆 兇 先 光 兊 尧
7 strokes	克 兌 兎 兏 児 兑
8 strokes	免 兒 兓 兔 兕 兖
9 strokes	兗 兘 兙
10 strokes	党 兛
11 strokes	兜 兝 兞
12 strokes	兟 兠
13 strokes	兡
14 strokes	兢
16 strokes	兣
21 strokes	兤

Not surprisingly, this radical is always found in the bottom-half of a character.

#11) 入(rù in Mandarin, jap6 in Cantonese)

Let’s not get confused now. Doesn’t this 入section header look at lot like the 人 section header? While the stroke order is the same, let me show you the differences.

人 means a “person”, the left dominant stroke is longer than the right

入means “to enter”, the right dominant stroke is longer than the left.

Animation of the 人 character:
http://blog.nciku.com/blog/en/2011/03/09/hsk-character-list-and-stroke-order-animations/

Animation of the 入 character:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/%E5%85%A5-order.gif/220px-%E5%85%A5-order.gif

The 入 character looks funny in print, but it is supposed to look like a mirrored version of 人. Besides acting as a radical, 入 is also a character itself, meaning to “to enter.”

Characters that fall into the入 section header:

3 strokes	兦
4 strokes	內
5 strokes	㒰 㒱
6 strokes	㒲全
7 strokes	㒳, 㒴
8 strokes	兩
9 strokes	兪

There isn’t a lot of characters that fall into the 入 section header. I see that this radical is found either on the top of in the middle of a character. In the character, 內 (noi6 in Cantonese, nei4 in Mandarin), we can easily see that the 入 character went into the frame 冂, creating a visual meaning as well as an actual meaning for the word, “inside” or “within.”

#12) 八 (bā in Mandarin, baat3 in Cantonese)

Besides being a section header, 八 is also a character meaning the number “eight.” I wonder if the strokes are split into two directions because according to Wikipedia, eight is the only single-digit number that can be divided into two four times. While the 八 character represents many other meanings, we’ll just focus on how it is a section header.

Characters that fall into the 八 section header:

4 strokes	公 六 兮兯 六
5 strokes	兰
6 strokes	共兲关兴
7 strokes	㒵 㒶 㒷兵
8 strokes	其 具 典
9 strokes	㒸兹, 养
10 strokes	兺, 兼
11 strokes	兽
12 strokes	兾, 兿
16 strokes	冀
18 strokes	冁
20 strokes	㒹

In character writing though, this section header does not have any particular meaning. It can be found either on the top, middle, or bottom of a character, but always takes up the entire width of the character length with no other strokes next to it. Perhaps in some words, the character tries to show that it can be evenly divided or the 八 radical tries to imitate the legs part of a character like in the character 兵 (meaning soldier). Even so, 八 is not the same as 儿 or 入.

We have completed all two-stroke section headers that use basic strokes. Starting in our next post, we’ll begin with two-stroke section headers that use combination strokes. I’ll break this section down to three more posts. We have learned about 5% of the radicals so far. Let’s not stop now and keep going!