Section Headers or Radicals in Depth – Two Strokes, Radicals #13-18, Part Two 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

http://www.longwiki.net

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.

Welcome to part three of the two-stroke radical series. 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 #13-18. 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	gwing1	wide
14	2	冖		mì	mik6	cover
15	2	冫		bīng	bing1	ice
16	2	几		jī	gei1	table
17	2	凵		kǎn	ham3	container, open mouth
18	2	刀(刂)		dāo	dou1	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.
 

#13) 冂(jiōng in Mandarin,  gwing1 in Cantonese) “wide”

It is easy to see why 冂 is known as an “upside-down box.” Only the bottom part of the radical is not closed. I’m not sure why the definition means “wide” though.

Let’s take a look at what characters fall in this section:

NOTE: All traditional characters are in BLUE font.

4 strokes	冃 冄 内 円 冇 冈
5 strokes	冉 冊 冋 册 囘
6 strokes	再 冎
7 strokes	冏
8 strokes	冐
9 strokes	冑 冒
10 strokes	冓 冔
11 strokes	冕

For most of these characters the 冂 character is usually in the middle, framing the rest of the character though none of the characters necessarily have a “wide” meaning. Oddly, we have the character 冒 in this section, where the all sides are closed.

#14) 冖(mì in Mandarin,  mik6 in Cantonese)

This radical is known as the “cover” radical and it is easy to see why. Doesn’t it look like a cover for something?

Let’s take a look at what characters fall in this section:

4 strokes	冗 冘
5 strokes	写 冚
6 strokes	农
7 strokes	军 冝
8 strokes	冞
9 strokes	冟 冠
10 strokes	冡 冢 冣 冤 冥 冦 冧
11 strokes	冨
14 strokes	冩
16 strokes	冪

Not surprisingly, the radical is always found on the top of a character. It does allude to the presence of a cover, being on top (the best), or a crushing theme in these characters.

#15) 冫(bīng in Mandarin, bing1 in Cantonese) “ice”

We come upon the “ice” radical. It’s just one stroke short of the 氵(water) radical, which we will learn later on in the four-stroke section.

Let’s take a look at what characters fall in this section:

3 strokes	习
5 strokes	冬 冭 冮 冯
6 strokes	冰 冱 冲 决 冴
7 strokes	况 冶 冷 冸 冹 冺
8 strokes	冻 冼 冽 冾 冿 净
9 strokes	凁 凂 凃
10 strokes	凄 凅 准 凇 凈 凉 凊 凋 凌 凍 凎
11 strokes	减 凐 凑
12 strokes	凒 凓 凔 凕 凖
13 strokes	凗
14 strokes	凘
15 strokes	凙 凚 凛 凜
16 strokes	凝 凞
17 strokes	凟

Almost all of the characters in this section have a “chilly” or “cold” or “desolate” meaning. The radical is often found on the left although, in the case of 冬 found at the bottom.

#16) 几(jī in Mandarin,  gei1 in Cantonese) “table”

Just like its shape, 几 looks like a table with legs. Because it looks a bit taller than the cover radical 冖, it makes it seems as though this radical is all-encompassing.

Coincidentally, the 几 radical is also known for being the simplified character of 幾 which means “few, some, almost, etc.” but this character 几 is not related to the original 几 table radical.

Let’s take a look at what characters fall in this section:

3 strokes	凡 凢 凣
4 strokes	凤
5 strokes	凥 処 凧
6 strokes	凨 凩 凪 凫
7 strokes	凬
8 strokes	凭 凮 凯
9 strokes	巬
11 strokes	凰
12 strokes	凱 凲
14 strokes	凳 凴

Not surprisingly, the general meaning of this character is all-encompassing. Though, we do have a character where the character means chair and it actually looks like a chair (凳). Usually, this radical is found only on the top, right (in many simplified characters), or bottom (as in “chair”). 

#17) 凵(kǎn in Mandarin,  ham3 in Cantonese) “lower-three-sided frame”

The character 凵 acts as a radical or section header only. It does not exist as a character by itself. This radical could resemble an open mouth, box, frame, or a hole. Many newly created simplified characters exist with this radical.

The radical 凵 is known as the “lower three-sided frame.” (下三框 - xia4 san1 kuang4 [Mandarin] haa6  saam1 kwaang1 [Cantonese]). Since this definition could mean open mouth, box, frame, or a hole, I choose 下三框 as the official definition of this radical.

Let’s take a look at what characters fall in this section:

4 strokes	凶
5 strokes	凷 凸 凹 出 击
6 strokes	凼
8 strokes	函
9 strokes	凾
12 strokes	凿

Given its definition, the radical 凵 is only found at the bottom of a character. It seems to me that the character that fall in this section are used as a descriptive meaning.

#18) 刀(刂) (dāo in Mandarin,  dou1 in Cantonese) “knife”

The 刀 radical is shared with the radical 刂 in the same section header. The two radicals share the same meaning, which is either to cut, a knife, or a sword. It seems to me that the 刂 radical is a shortcut version of  刀 . When you see either of these radicals, there’s a good chance that the meaning pertains to cutting something, separating something, or an actual knife or sword. While the 刀 radical is also the character for an actual knife or sword, the 刂 radical only functions as a radical.

Let’s take a look at what characters fall in this section:

2 strokes	刁
3 strokes	刃 刄
4 strokes	刅 分 切 刈
5 strokes	刉 刊 刋 刌 刍
6 strokes	刎 刏 刐 刑 划 刓 刔 刕 刖 列 刘 则 刚 创
7 strokes	刜 初 刞 刟 删 刡 刢 刣 判 別 刦 刧 刨 利 刪 别 刬 刭㓟
8 strokes	刮 刯 到 刱 刲 刳 刴 刵 制 刷 券 刹 刺 刻 刼 刽 刾 刿 剀 剁 剂㓤
9 strokes	剃 剄 剅 剆 則 剈 剉 削 剋 剌 前 剎 剏 剐 剑
10 strokes	剒 剓 剔 剕 剖 剗 剘 剙 剚 剛 剜 剝 剞 剟 剠 剡 剢 剣 剤 剥 剦 剧
11 strokes	剨 剪 剫 剬 剭 剮 副 剰 剱𠝹
12 strokes	剩 割 剳 剴 創 剶
13 strokes	剷 剸 剹 剺 剻 剼 剽 剾 剿
14 strokes	劀 劁 劂 劃 劄 㔆
15 strokes	劅 劆 劇 劈 劉 劊 劋 劌 劍 劎 劏
16 strokes	劐 劑 劒 劓 劔
17 strokes	劕 鎅
19 strokes	劖
19 strokes	劖
21 strokes	劗 劘

Note: There are two characters in the 11 stroke section that will not display by using the character encoding UTF-8 on the computer. Therefore, I tried to post images of the characters instead.

The 刀 radical is usually found either at the right side or bottom of a character while the 刂 radical is always found on the right side of a character.

We’ve now learned up to 18 radicals/section headers. Next time, I will continue with radicals/section headers 19-24. Do not give up! Keep trying to recognize the radicals in the characters. In time, you will automatically recognize the radical and perhaps have a clue to its meaning. Some radicals are easy to recognize while others a tricky. Keep trying!