Kangi making
Radicals
Japanese kanji have radicals, which are used to search for kanji in dictionaries. Most kanji dictionaries are arranged by radical, not by AIUEO order, and there are 214 of them. They can usually be found based on the number of strokes, with radicals ranging from 1 to 17 strokes.
A kanji consists of one or more radicals, but only one is considered the “active radical”. This “active radical” is used to look up a word in the dictionary. Anything else is considered a constituent, element, or part.
Example
The Chinese character for cat is 猫neko. The radical is 犭kemonohen (a variant of dog / beast). Everything else is considered a component, part, or element: 田 ⺾.
Knowing which radicals are considered “active” can be a challenge. But basically, you have to find the components of a kanji and examine each one until you find the desired kanji.
Thankfully, many online kanji dictionaries allow you to search by component to narrow down the kanji you are searching for.
Japanese kanji have radicals that are used when searching for kanji in a dictionary. Many kanji dictionaries are arranged by radical and not an AIUEO order.
There are 214 varieties of what are called radicals. Some of these are also variants. For example, the ⼭ is a variant of the small tree.
Radicals can be found within this Kangxi list usually based on the number of strokes. Radicals range from 1 to 17 strokes.
Kanji can be made up of one or more radicals, but only one radical is considered “the active radical”. This “active radical” is used when locating it in a dictionary. Everything else is considered a component, element, or part.
Thank you for reading! ありがとう。 Namu Shinnyo ■
