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!

Section Headers or Radicals in Depth – One Stroke, Radicals #1-6

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

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk

I did not forget our further studies into radicals. If you have not read my previous posts regarding strokes and radicals, I recommend reading and understanding those topics first.

 Radicals are important because it will help you recognize words faster and can clue you into their sounds or meaning. For the sake of simplicity, I will mostly refer to section headers as radicals. In our previous post about Section Headers, not every section header is considered a radical, which is why the term “section header” was created. 

Let’s learn all the 214 radicals and recognize all of them. The radical list is always in a specific order similar to ABCs in the English alphabet so radical number one will always be ”一” and so forth. You don’t have to memorize the order, but I do expect you to correctly guess the stroke count of each radical. The higher the number of total strokes, the higher the number on the radical/section header list.

This list is based on the Kanxi Dictionary and a bit of the CantoDict dictionary. Other dictionaries might categorize certain characters into a different section header. There is no unified way to classify each character. In order to learn, we would have to start somewhere with a dictionary.

Today, we’ll go over all the section headers/radicals that require only one stroke, which means your pen or brush will never leave the paper until you are finished writing the radical. There are six radicals with one stroke. Remember in a previous post, if possible, the characters are usually written from top left and end at the bottom right. If a radical is written the same way in both the simplified and traditional system, then I left the simplified radical column blank.

Radical Number / Section Header	Traditional Radical	Simplified Radical	Pinyin	Jyutping	Meaning
1	一		yī	jat1	One
2	丨		gǔn	gwan2	Line
3	丶		zhǔ	zyu2	Comma
4	丿		piě	pit3	Slash
5	乙 (⺄, 乚)		yǐ	jyut3	Second
6	亅		jué	kyut3	Hook

#1) 一 (yī in Mandarin, jat1 in Cantonese)

This radical should be familiar, right? If you’ve read my Introduction to Strokes post, this radical is actually one of the basic strokes called “橫” héng for “horizontal.” Now, we’re giving this stroke an extra meaning of being the Chinese character for the number “one.”

Let’s take a look at some examples of characters that fall under the一section header category:

Note: This list includes simplified characters. Traditional characters are colored in blue font.

2 strokes	丁 丂 七 丄 丅 丆
3 strokes	万 丈 三 上 下 丌 与
4 strokes	不 丏 丐 丑 丒 专
5 strokes	且 丕 世 丘 丙 业 丛 东 丝
6 strokes	丞 丟 丠 両
7 strokes	丣 两 严
8 strokes	並 丧兩

Unfortunately, based on the examples, it’s hard to tell why these characters are listed under the 一 section header. If we take a look at the characters with a total of two strokes, we can easily tell that these characters have an obvious héng stroke as an identifier that is as long as the character width or longer. It seems that these characters mostly have a strongly defined héng stroke either on the top of bottom of a character.

Don’t worry about not recognizing the characters; our purpose right now is to recognize the radical in each of the characters. Though, if you do recognize some characters, good for you!

#2) 丨(gǔn in Mandarin, gwan2 in Cantonese)

The section header by itself does not have any meaning. It is one of the basic stokes called the shù stroke, which is a vertical stroke.  This can also be considered the numeral “1.” Unfortunately, I could not figure out why it is called “gǔn” or “gwan2” as it does not seem to be related to anything in particular. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_2, this radical could also mean stick, which would make sense to me in Cantonese except the Cantonese jyutping pronunciation of stick, is gwan3 and not gwan2. In Mandarin, stick would be gun4 and not gun3. Or based on the translation of kanji, they do use the character for stick 棒 as the equivalent translation. Perhaps, it is related to stick as in 棍棒 (gwan3 paang5 in Cantonese) or棍棒 (gun4 bang4 in Mandarin), which in English means a “club” (the stick weapon or baseball kind of definition). That has to be it.

Characters that fall in the丨category:

2 strokes	丩
3 strokes	个丫丬
4 strokes	中丮丯丰书
5 strokes	丱
6 strokes	串
7 strokes	丳
8 strokes	临
9 strokes	丵

You may notice that the丨section header is always located either in the middle or on the right side of a character. I don’t really consider丨as a actual radical, but a part of a radical. In almost all cases, 丨 is considered the last stroke in a character. 

#3) 丶(zhǔ in Mandarin, zyu2 in Cantonese)

This section header is considered one of the basic strokes just like the section headers before it.  The stroke by itself is not a distinct character. This stroke is actually used as a comma in Chinese writing so the name of this section header is called “comma.” If you recall, this stroke is also called a “dot” but for purposes of being a section header, it really represents a comma slash more than an actual dot.

Characters that fall in the丶section header:

2 strokes	丷
3 strokes	丸凡
4 strokes	丹为
5 strokes	主丼
7 strokes	丽
9 strokes	举

These comma section headers look like icing on the cake. They are usually found at the top of or in the middle of a character.

#4) 丿(piě in Mandarin, pit3 in Cantonese)

Known for being one of the basic strokes, piě is commonly known as a slash or a throw away stroke. If written by itself, it would not have any specific meaning.

Characters that fall in the 丿section header:

2 strokes	乂乃 乄
3 strokes	久 乆 乇 么 义 乊 之 乡
4 strokes	乌 乏之乏
5 strokes	乍 乎 乐
6 strokes	丢 乑（乑 is a variant of 眾 or 众） 乒 乓 乔
7 strokes	乕
8 strokes	乖
9 strokes	乗
10 strokes	乘

Can you locate the section header in each character?

From what I notice from the characters located in the丿section header, the piě section header can be found usually at the top of a character. Otherwise, the section header can be found on the left, middle or bottom right.

#5)  乙 (yǐ in Mandarin, jyut3 in Cantonese),  乛 (zhé in Mandarin, zit3 in Cantonese) and 乚(yin3 in Mandarin or jyut3 in Cantonese)  

Variants of radicals share the same section header. 乙 shares the section header with 乛 and 乚. Interestingly, if you break the radical 乙 down into two parts, you will have 乛, the upper part, and 乚, the lower part.

乙 is commonly known as being the “second” meaning in a series or list. It is the “B” in “ABCD.”

If you recall from the combination strokes section of a previous post, 乛 is commonly known as the break stroke, which changes directions based on the last stroke made on paper.

The meaning of 乚 involves a secret or a hidden meaning.  This is also a combination stroke: shù wān gōu. 

Characters that fall into the 乙 / 乛 /乚 section header:

2 strokes	乜 九
3 strokes	乞 也 习
4 strokes	乢 乣 乤 乥
5 strokes	乧氹
6 strokes	乨 乩 乪 乫 乬 乭 乮 乯厾
7 strokes	乱 乲
8 strokes	乳 乴 乵 乶 乷 乸
9 strokes	乹 乺 乻 乼 乽
11 strokes	乾 乿 亀
12 strokes	亁
13 strokes	亂 亃 亄
14 strokes	

If you cannot see the last character in the 14 strokes row, then you might be missing some Chinese fonts. Download more fonts or use this recommended page:

http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/t/ttf-arphic-ukai/ttf-arphic-ukai_0.2.20080216.1.orig.tar.gz

Did you find where the radicals are located in each of the characters above? One thing for sure is that each character has a gou (hook) stroke in it. If you can find the gou stroke, you can find the stroke(s) connecting the gou to help you identify the root radical. Or in the case of 乜 or 也, it looks like there are two radicals in it: 乛 and 乚! One thing I did notice is that it isn’t exactly clear sometimes which is the dominant radical or section header. Did you see any of the previous section headers in some of the characters? As I mentioned before in my radical post and I will paraphrase; when in doubt, take an educated guess starting with the radical that sticks out the most to you.

#6) 亅(jué in Mandarin, kyut3 in Cantonese)

Besides being a section header, the jué or kyut3 stroke is a combination stroke. Otherwise known as a 竖钩 shùgōu stroke in Mandarin or a 豎鉤 syu6 ngau1 stroke in Cantonese, a vertical stroke followed by a hook is specifically called a jué or kyut3 stroke.

Characters that are included in the亅category:

2 strokes	了
3 strokes	亇
4 strokes	予
6 strokes	争
7 strokes	爭
8 strokes	亊（simplified Korean character）
9 strokes	事

It is easy to notice that the jué or kyut3 radical is always located at the bottom.

I’m proud to say that writing this blog requires a lot of research and time, but we survived the first six radicals, all of which we previously covered in an earlier post. Therefore, you are not learning a new topic, but expanding on what you already know.  Again, I don’t want you to memorize any character, but to be able to recognize the radicals themselves. Later on, the radicals will get more complex and I want you to be able to identify each radical part as a whole and be able to guess the correct section header.

Companies and Products Translated into Chinese

I want to make a list of famous company names or products and their Chinese equivalent. I will edit this list from time to time. Most of the Chinese translations are phonetic transliterations and the Chinese try to create a name that is more or less the same sounds, but is also meaningful. Sometimes, a direct translation is used such as when translating the word “diet” for a product.

Keep in mind that the phonetic sounds are predominantly created to match the Mandarin language and not the Cantonese language.

For the Literal Meaning column, I chose to translate each character. If a character had more than one meaning, I chose the best appropriate definition. If the Chinese character’s definition uses more than one English word, the first English word is capitalized.

For the connotation column, I based the meaning on how I would interpret the meaning. I left the connotation column blank if the literal meaning, the denotation, is the same as the connotation. 

If you know any more transliterations that are not on the list, drop me a comment with proof of its accuracy. I’ll also accept any nicknames if there are any.

I owe a great deal to http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary and http://google.com for this project.

Here is the link!

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=BF8AED0897926D3C!173