{"id":6596,"date":"2015-12-19T13:37:56","date_gmt":"2015-12-19T13:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/?p=6596"},"modified":"2024-07-20T08:58:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T08:58:59","slug":"recognize-chinese-characters-by-radicals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/recognize-chinese-characters-by-radicals.html","title":{"rendered":"Mastering Chinese Characters Through Radicals &#8211; Recognizing Chinese Characters by Their Radicals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This week, I have chosen a set of Chinese characters that beginners may easily confuse. In the picture below, you&#8217;ll see six pairs of characters. The symbols in the second and fourth columns differ from those in the first and third columns by an element called a radical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Radicals are graphical components under which characters are listed in dictionaries. They often indicate general meaning and can provide clues to the character\u2019s meaning. For example, the radical \u8ba0 (y\u00e1n) in the pairs below means \u201cspeech,\u201d so characters with this radical are mostly related to verbal communication.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"mp3jWrap_0\" class=\"mjp-s-wrapper s-graphic unsel-mjp \" style=\"font-size:18px;\"><span id=\"playpause_wrap_mp3j_0\" class=\"wrap_inline_mp3j\" style=\"font-weight:700;\"><span class=\"gfxbutton_mp3j play-mjp\" id=\"playpause_mp3j_0\" style=\"font-size:18px;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span>&nbsp;<span class=\"group_wrap\"><span class=\"bars_mp3j\"><span class=\"loadB_mp3j\" id=\"load_mp3j_0\"><\/span><span class=\"posbarB_mp3j\" id=\"posbar_mp3j_0\"><\/span><\/span><span class=\"indi_mp3j\" style=\"font-size:12.6px;\" id=\"statusMI_0\"><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div><span class=\"s-nosolution\" id=\"mp3j_nosolution_0\" style=\"display:none;\"><\/span><script>\nMP3jPLAYLISTS.inline_0 = [\n\t{ name: \"channel post 3\", formats: [\"mp3\"], mp3: \"aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGlnbWFuZGFyaW4uY29tL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy8yMDE1LzEyL2NoYW5uZWwtcG9zdC0zLm1wMw==\", counterpart:\"\", artist: \"\", image: \"\", imgurl: \"\" }\n];\n<\/script>\n\n<script>MP3jPLAYERS[0] = { list: MP3jPLAYLISTS.inline_0, tr:0, type:'single', lstate:'', loop:false, play_txt:'&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;', pause_txt:'&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;', pp_title:'', autoplay:false, download:false, vol:100, height:'' };<\/script>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Chinese-Characters-by-Radicals.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese Characters by Radicals\" class=\"wp-image-6597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Chinese-Characters-by-Radicals.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Chinese-Characters-by-Radicals-300x258.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Chinese-Characters-by-Radicals-768x660.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides those listed in the picture, here are a few more examples: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u8bf4 (shu\u014d) \u2013 to speak, to talk<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u8bed (y\u01d4) \u2013 spoken language<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u8bdd (hu\u00e0) \u2013 words, expressions, phrases<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Other elements of Chinese characters may be phonetic components. Notice how similar the pronunciations are in the following pairs of characters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u4eba (r\u00e9n) \u2013 \u8ba4 (r\u00e8n)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u53ea (zh\u01d0) \u2013 \u8bc6 (sh\u00ed)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>However, don\u2019t completely rely on the resemblance. Many other characters look similar but sound completely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To memorize Chinese characters better and faster, it may be useful to create your own lists of characters that differ by their radicals. For example, many people have trouble distinguishing \u516b and \u4eba. Look at them closely and remember how they are written:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"562\" height=\"323\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/baren.jpg\" alt=\"baren\" class=\"wp-image-6598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/baren.jpg 562w, https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/baren-300x172.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 562px) 100vw, 562px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Radicals are very important in learning Chinese characters, and it\u2019s best to memorize them to help you learn quickly. You&#8217;ll see a lot of repetition that will help you remember what the radical means, but remember that the meanings and the phonics aren\u2019t always the same for each character. Take these tips into consideration and keep learning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/chinese-characters.html\">Explore additional resources and methods<\/a> to deepen your understanding of Chinese characters and their components. Check out this comprehensive<a href=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/chinese-characters-list\"> list of Chinese characters<\/a> and learn about effective strategies for<a href=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/how-to-write-chinese-characters.html\"> writing Chinese characters<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, I have chosen a set of Chinese characters that beginners may easily confuse. In the picture below, you&#8217;ll see six pairs of characters. The symbols in the second and fourth columns differ from those in the first and third columns by an element called a radical. Radicals are graphical components under which characters&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[178,116],"tags":[77,86,78,80,89,84],"post_series":[],"class_list":["post-6596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-characters","category-hacking-chinese-characters","tag-beginner","tag-chinese-characters","tag-intermediate","tag-self-study","tag-tips-and-suggestions","tag-vocabulary","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Recognizing Chinese Characters by Their Radicals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/recognize-chinese-characters-by-radicals.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Recognizing Chinese Characters by Their Radicals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week, I have chosen a set of Chinese characters that beginners may easily confuse. 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