semantic component; meaning radical
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
semantic component (the radical in a phono-semantic compound character that indicates the meaning category)
technicalIn Chinese character analysis (六书), 形旁 contrasts with 声旁 (the phonetic component). For example, in 河 (river), 氵is the 形旁 indicating water/meaning, while 可 is the 声旁 indicating pronunciation. In 妈 (mother), 女 is the 形旁 indicating female.
Sān三
diǎn点
shuǐ水
shì是
hé河
zì字
de的
xíng形
páng旁
。
The three-dot water radical is the semantic component of the character 河.
Xíng形
shēng声
zì字
yóu由
xíng形
páng旁
hé和
shēng声
páng旁
liǎng两
bù部
fen分
zǔ组
chéng成
。
Phono-semantic compound characters are composed of semantic and phonetic components.
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Nǚ女
zì字
páng旁
zài在
mā妈
、
jiě姐
、
mèi妹
zhè这
xiē些
zì字
zhōng中
chōng充
dāng当
xíng形
páng旁
。
The female radical serves as the semantic component in characters such as 妈, 姐, and 妹.
Tōng通
guò过
fēn分
xī析
xíng形
páng旁
，
wǒ我
men们
kě可
yǐ以
tuī推
cè测
hàn汉
zì字
de的
dà大
zhì致
yì意
yì义
fàn范
chóu畴
。
By analyzing the semantic component, we can infer the general meaning category of a Chinese character.