character component; radical constituent
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
a recurring component or part of a Chinese character
neutralA foundational concept in Chinese lexicography and character learning. It refers to components that appear in many characters, often indicating meaning (semantic component) or sound (phonetic component). The term '偏旁' can be used more loosely than the formal '部首' (radical). The diminutive '儿' (er) is optional in Northern Mandarin.
Xué学
xí习
hàn汉
zì字
shí时
，
liǎo了
jiě解
piān偏
páng旁
hěn很
yǒu有
bāng帮
zhù助
。
When learning Chinese characters, understanding components is very helpful.
“
mù木
”
shì是
“
lín林
”
、
“
sēn森
”
、
“
shù树
”
zhè这
xiē些
zì字
de的
gòng共
tóng同
piān偏
páng旁
。
“木” (wood) is the common component in characters like “林” (forest), “森” (dense forest), and “树” (tree).
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Lǎo老
shī师
ràng让
wǒ我
men们
zhǎo找
chū出
zhè这
ge个
zì字
de的
piān偏
páng旁
shì是
shén什
me么
。
The teacher asked us to identify the component of this character.
Hěn很
duō多
xíng形
shēng声
zì字
shì是
yóu由
yī一
gè个
biǎo表
yì意
de的
piān偏
páng旁
hé和
yī一
gè个
biǎo表
yīn音
de的
piān偏
páng旁
zǔ组
chéng成
de的
。
Many phono-semantic compound characters are formed by a meaning-indicating component and a sound-indicating component.