Both "言" and "四" are radicals (部首). For "詈", the radical is 言, not 四. Why? In general, when there is more than one part which can be a radical, which one will be the radical for the character?
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1 Answer
部首 is typically (but not in all cases) used to illustrate a character's fundamental feature.
詈 means to curse, so it is related with 言(speak, remark, words etc.).
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Thanks! It makes perfect sense. When I look the character up in a dictionary, I need to know the radical before knowing the meaning of the character.– ZurielCommented May 29, 2021 at 0:55
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@Zuriel I would strongly recommend using handwriting recognition tools attached to a digital dictionary, like Pleco, and not paper dictionaries which rely on the radical system.– dROOOzeCommented May 29, 2021 at 1:28
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Just as 咒, (Zhòu), (religious incantations / "curse"), where both 口 & 几 are radicals, has the "mouth" radical, in fact two "mouths", in case one gets tired I suppose or perhaps two mouths are louder than one? :) "几", ( jǐ ), looks like and stands for a small table. Commented May 30, 2021 at 4:24