Questions about the radical components of chinese characters.
5
votes
2answers
233 views
Why does 首饰的饰 have the 饣radical?
According to my sources 饣 means "food" or "eat". Since when do people eat jewelry?
4
votes
5answers
199 views
What was this online dictionary's name with ancient traditional and simplified characters and etymology?
I once found a Mandarin Chinese dictionary which for each character listed the ancient, the traditional and the simplified Chinese characters. For each it described its meaning and how it developed ...
3
votes
1answer
71 views
How to parse this phrase?
The radical 囗 is sometimes described as 圍字框. This phrase is a little bit ambigous to me. Does this mean
«the frame of the character 【圍】» (圍字的框子)
or «the frame that surrounds characters»? (包圍文字的框子)
6
votes
3answers
311 views
Dog radical (犭) for non-Han ethnic groups
As far as I understand, the dog radical (犭) was used for all non-Han ethnic groups before the Chinese Communist Party took power on the mainland. Is there truth to that? If so:
Why did the CCP stop ...
6
votes
1answer
148 views
Determine radicals for simplifed characters that lost their traditional form completely
Having read this question: How can one determine the radical for a given character?,
it gave me another question.
Since many simplified characters lost their original form (compared to traditional ...
6
votes
2answers
86 views
What is the part without the radical called?
For example, these characters have different radicals:
根 跟 恨 狠
But the part of the characters minus the radical is the same.
Does that part (艮 in this case) have a name?
4
votes
5answers
163 views
Is there a site that can split characters into radicals?
For example, let's examine character heaven. It has a Ren radical (men). And then we add a strip to become Tha (big). And then we add another strip to get heaven.
Now, is there a site to do so?
I ...
2
votes
2answers
195 views
What is the top part of 姜 and why does it differ?
If you look at the character 姜, it seems like the top part is ⺷ and the bottom is 女, however some sources, Chinese-Characters, HanziJS and Wikimedia Commons show the phonetic radical as 羊.
I'm the ...
14
votes
5answers
345 views
How can one determine the radical for a given character?
Many times, when reading Mandarin, I will happen across a character that I don't know. Usually, the radical along with some context will clue me into the meaning, but if I can't determine the ...
6
votes
4answers
64 views
What methods are available for looking up a character?
Some dictionaries provide a radical lookup for finding a character. Are there other systems available besides radical lookup for finding the meaning of a word when one only has the character?
