All Kanji Radicals and their Meanings

greetings from my new apartment in Seattle I'm finally settled in so it's time to fulfill the request a few of you made and I make a video about kanji radicals in this video I will explain what radicals are where you can find them on the kanji and I will do a brief overview of all of the kanji radicals from one brushstroke 217 brush strokes let's get started now before I start I need to acknowledge my sources for this video if you're serious about learning kanji I highly recommend getting the kanji dictionary by March spun and Wolfgang wada Mitsuki it was my first and only kanji dictionary and before the internet became a great resource for kanji I used this book until it literally fell apart at the seams span and had a Mitsuki have other resource books for the Japanese writing system that also looked great I also want to acknowledge the website kanji alive calm since my kanji dictionary fell apart a quick search led me to their page on radicals and their chart is the basis for this video so radicals what are they they are smaller kanji that appear in part of a kanji and help contribute to its overall meaning not all kanji have radicals and some kanji are radicals an example is this even if you are just starting out learning Japanese you probably recognize this as meaning to say or words and that you can add a heat Agana one aida to make it un aida which means please don't say it for this kanji is also a radical check out this kanji if you look at the left side you'll see the word kanji squished to the left of another kanji the kanji for hoodoo or to sell things put the two parts together and you have literally sell words or as actual meaning to read now if this already made your brain hurt congratulations you're learning kanji seriously though it may seem quite overwhelming and complicated at first but once you learn kanji they will be your friends I promise radicals can go in a number of different places in a kanji these positions have names but you don't need to worry about that even I didn't know some of these names until I made this video just now what's most important is that you know where these radicals might appear and where you'll need to be looking out for them radicals can appear on the left right top or bottom they can partially or completely surround a kanji in a few different patterns and they can wrap around on the upper left and lower left sides of a kanji so if you encounter a kanji you don't know your first step will be to look in all of these locations and see if you can find a radical sometimes the kanji might be made up of two or more kanji that are technically both radicals like this one it means tomorrow among other things if we break this down you'll see a Sun on the left and a moon on the right so which is the radical your clue will usually be in size and or warping if you compare the two country within this kanji the one of her son is smaller and a bit slanted and thinner than it should be that means Sun is the radical now that we know what radicals are and where to find them let's go through all of them for kanji alphabetical order means that kanji with the least brush strokes are listed first so we'll start with the radicals with one brushstroke and finish with the radicals with 17 brush strokes so before we look at the radicals with one brushstroke just note the top of this table where you'll see number of strokes the radical itself the position of where it might usually be in the kanji its meaning its reading and then notes and importance importance is like how often do you actually use this radical in kanji so first we have et which means 1 or a horizontal stroke then tap table which is a vertical stroke 10 which is a dot no which is a diagonal sweeping stroke milk moody which is a diagonal sweeping stroke again and you'll see it has come moody after it because Kon moody in notates that the radical is on the top of the kanji then you'll have both su and oats su again so note the two different ways that this radical is written yeah that's another fun thing about radicals sometimes you'll notice they're written different ways depending on where they appear in the kanji isn't that fun anyway you got old su twice which means the second that radical by itself just as a kanji if you add it to all not at the at the end it makes poeltl May which means virgin or maiden or young girl and then we have Hannibal which is vertical stroke with a hook now for kind radicals with two brushstrokes we have meat which is too nobuta which is a lid or a top and yeah this is very important you'll see this in a lot of kanji okay then we have stole which is a very important like very commonly used kanji that means person and then you'll note when it's used as a radical it is written two different ways isn't that fun and they're both really super important so you gotta remember them so the one that looks like to me it looks just kind of like a pillar it's it's pronounced mean Ben because Ben means it's on the left side of the kanji and that also means person and then you have his DNA which means person as well and it's Yin a because it's the top of the kanji then we have towashie which means human legs eater which is to enter and then hatch II which is 8 and then Higashi da which is also 8 so note the different ways of expressing that same kanji looks similar but it's slightly different k gamaya which is to enclose and if look at the kanji radical it looks like it's enclosing something Wacom moody which is a cover or a crown me sweet which is ice and it looks similar to the water radical which we will find later Kim Yeol table cuz it come moody which means wind and if you look at this radical it is the same radical that is used with kaze which is wind so that's an easier way to remember it con mule which is a container or an open box and look it looks like a container or an open box cut Dona katana is knife or sword and when it is a radical on the right side of the kanji it's bit dull and as you can see it looks like a cut to Connery so that's an easier way to remember it speaking of katakana this next kanji is one of the very first kanji that I learned and it's because it's basically cut the Kanaka and it's Chikara which means power or strengths and I was really proud of myself when I learned this kanji I was like I know what kanji now sit zooming am i which is to wrap and yeah the radical looks like it's wrapping around something said G which is spoon huckle gamma hit box Chuck she gum I it to conceal or to hide Jew 10 beaucoup which is Oracle fish eats gu t which is stamp or seal gun that it which is a cliff and yes this is very important it's a very commonly used radical then we have mu which as if you know katakana that's basically katakana mu right there and it also means private then you have Mata which is again or right hand now we're onto three brushstrokes alright notice we have three different mouths the first one is just the kanji for mouth coochie that's a very basic kanji and it's used a lot so you should learn this one definitely this should be one of your first kanji and look it's just a square that's easy enough to remember right so it's if it's on the left side of the kanji if you see here it's cookie Henan and it's really tiny and squished if you notice and then if it is on the outside of a kanji it's called Cunningham ayah which means border or territorial boundaries so this is actually like a different kanji like it totally looks the same as kuchi but it's actually it's actually a different radical and Kuni gamma is used in the kanji Kuni which is the kanji for country notice it there now we've got three different earths although one of them psyche it's not really earth so the first one is Chi which is just earth and if you know if you're in first year Japanese you've probably already learned it very common kanji it's used in Saturday then we have it as a radical and it's on the left side of the kanji so it's Chi hen and then this big version of it it's actually son who died II which you know which is son guy but they they translated here as a man or a scholar but you know we know it as Sam who died and this son who died this kanji actually if you know bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon it's the sheet in sin XI which is warrior or fighter so it's actually not Earth even though it looks pretty much exactly like Earth and then you'll see this as a radical summer like a moody because it's on the top of the kanji then you have no MOT that which is to follow nuts a Shi which is to go slowly and then you Beth which is evening and it really just looks like a Catholic on a top di't which is large or big ol knot which is woman ona hen which is woman if it's a radical on the left side of the kanji then we have coal which is child son or daughter and then Co hen because it is on the left side of the kanji is child son or daughter again then bucum moody which is roof where house and yeah very important you see this on a lot of kanji soon which is an inch and then soon as could eat which means the right side radical inch notice how squished it is shoal which is small and then show come moody which is also small it's just a different way of writing that kanji and it always appears on the top of a kanji now we have died no Hmong gasps yep I totally knew that one it wasn't just reading it off the chart that means lame leg just come on in which is course or awning lovely how it means those two drastically different things then you got son moment which is sprout yama which is mountain that's very very common as you'll see in these two variants you've got yama hin which is the yama as a radical to the left side of the kanji and then you have yarmulke moody which is mountain at the top of the kanji and yeah very very very common manga Ogawa which is a winding river i have actually never seen this kanji before until just now and then you have some bull gamma which is river Takumi work carpenter or skill and then Takumi hen because it's on the left side of the kanji honoré which is one self haba which is cloth abba hen which is cloth to the left of the kanji come which is too dry or shield eat okashira which is young and silent mother a slanting roof and Yeol which is to move or stretch need you a sheet which is folded hands eager to me a javelin you mean which is a bow so q dole this yumi kanji is the cute and as you'll see it's also a radical in the kanji for haiku which is to pull so kind of like when you're pulling on an arrow so see how these radicals kind of make sense with the kanji then you got k gas cheetah which is pig's head and keg ashita which is pig's head if you look like very slightly you'll see a difference in the lines like on the first one the bottom line extends slightly to the right and in the second one the middle line extends slightly to the right this kind of thing I did not notice when I didn't have glasses I had a stigmatism for I don't know how long I mean I had a stigmatism for at least 10 years untreated like I didn't have glasses or contacts all that time and yeah it was Hart much harder for me to read kanji so if you're having trouble with these kanji and if you're struggling to notice like these differences that I'm pointing out you might need glasses get that checked out moving on K Ishida again pig's head just a different version of pig's head then we have Suns cootie which is a hairstyle or light rays and then we have joining Ben which is a step stride Street or to go and yeah it's the radical used on the kanji hakeem us which is to like go places and also that same kanji as a second country and Ginkel which is Bank as in place to keep your money come moody which is grass and yes so they're very important it's a radical that's used in chat which is tea signal road walk to advance yes very important it is the radical used in methi which is path or Road all right this one is I have always thought of it in my mind is a set because I've also studied German and there's that like SS and it looks like a nest set or you might think of it as a capital B but it's actually always Ethel and it's village country or city and yeah it's it's very commonly used and here it is again if it's on the left side of the kanji it is close Ethel hen and then you've got sue cut the comet sue and indeed it basically just looks like a katakana - alright bee sting Ben that is co coral a variant of Kokoro you'll see on the right and yeah when I found out that this radical was the same thing as Kokoro it opened a lot of like AHA in my brain kanji started making a little more sense and yeah it's important you'll see it a lot 10 which is hand and yeah very important it's in a lot of kanji like Matsu mochima so that verb which means to hold things so what would make sense that a hand would be part of that kanji like you're holding something in your hand Sun Zi water also very important and you'll notice it looks like it cut the kind of sheet that's how I used to think of it I have put yeah it's actually water and then Kimmel Mohan also very important and it means animal or beast and you'll see often if a kanji has that radical it is an animal and now we're on to four brush strokes so we are revisiting Kokoro notice how Kokoro itself has four brush strokes but that radical we encountered earlier actually has three so that can happen sometimes when a kanji is radicalized it loses some of its strokes because here it is again and if it is on the bottom of the kanji it usually it retains its shape much better it's much more recognizable as Kokoro it just looks kind of squashed and it's called stock okaro which is funny because stego Kudo itself is a word that means like ulterior motives like devious like ulterior motives so it's kind of funny and the kanji cuy actually which means romantic love has taco Kudo under it so I guess it's like symbolic like even like in romantic love everyone has their ulterior motives local which is spear or weapon pull which is door and told that it which is again it's just a very end of door as you'll see it's a little squished looking and that's one of those radicals that surrounds the kanji on the upper left hand side okay which is hand chanyeol which is a branch book woods of coup D which is activity or to strike or hit and then book with zoo coup D again which is the same thing basic and see the kanji just looks slightly different it's just a variant of it boom which is literature and letters masazuka D which is the Big Dipper and one of the kanji in he ki foo one of the characters from fushigi yûgi almost coup d which is an axe hole direction or flag hole hen which is direction or flag you know which is not heat which is I mentioned this kanji earlier in the video which is Sunday or time and as you can see there's variants so he hen is this he radicals to the left of the kanji and then there's the gee that looks like he that isn't really he and if you have a stigmatism you won't catch this but look at this heat a beat this kanji right here if you look this middle line does not go all the way to the right and also it's a little fatter than he like if you put them right next to each other you'll see but yeah it's it's a very subtle difference so be careful but he is so much more commonly used than gwe so yeah here's another extremely common one ski which is moon month or period and then ski ten if it's on the left side of the kanji now here's another subtle difference one Nicki which means meat or flesh so going back and comparing it to moon you'll see there's just a very slight difference yeah so this mikazuki it's actually a very end of Miku look at the look of the kanji to the right not a variant of moon if you compare the other one even though the radicals look basically exactly the same so yeah that's kind of confusing but an example how this mikazuki radical is used look at the kanji Hornet which is her bone that's where it is and and you may think that that's moon but it is not it is actually meat okay now for an easier kanji that's extremely common key tree or wood and then key hen if it's to the left of the country which it frequently is this is definitely an important kanji aku B which is 2 lakh or too young Thoma do which is to stop guts ooh death and dying or to decompose guts the hen which is death and dying to decompose do maka Lance shaft action naka a knot or mother CUDA better to compare kit which is hair bougie which is family or clan King Amaya which is steam or air and if you recognize this radical it is part of key which is the key and kinky whether mizu just water he which is fire he hen which is fire when it's a radical deca which again is fire so as you can see just like with water and kokoro this radical when when fire is radicalized it can look super different when it's on the left side of the kanji it's just kind of squished but when it's on the bottom of the kanji it becomes just four dashes but looking at that it really looks kind of like a fire like if it's under a kanji it's like that kanji is on fire so it's kind of cool look at the kanji kudo ii and you'll see that there's fire on the bottom if you look at the top part of the kanji that that means village so burning village means black and if you think about it that actually makes sense when your village burns down it's black and scorched with ash isn't that lovely Schmitt is claws or nails and then submit come moody both of those versions of Schmitt calm moody see the slight difference there TT which is father Cole to mix show him split wood cut off split wood again and as you see it just looks a little bit different cut that hen which is it all squished into the left side of the kanji Kiba fing canine tooth Lucy cow we see him super squished cow to the left side of the kanji Inu is dog and then Oh hen jewelry or a jeweled King and yeah it's very important you'll see it in a lot of kanji shima su hen which is altar festival or religious service and it also looks like a katakana neck humming Ashida net oh you come moody old or old age and it's some in the kanji of role in regime which is like elderly person on to five brushstrokes again which is darkness and it's also of again in game mu if you're familiar with shakey yogi thumb up which is jewelry booty which is melon quwata which is tile mie which is sweet boo matter which is to be born birth live mochi you do to use pop does a rice paddy that's a very commonly used kanji on its own you'll see in a lot of surnames tah hen which again rice paddy but it's squished into the left side of the kanji key which is a bolt of cloth see him bolt of cloth again and you can see it's changed when it becomes a radical yeah Maya dot it which is sickness hatsue gashira out spread legs or departure sheetal which is white and then Haku hen which is white when it's to the left side of the kanji King aa skin or hide Sarah plate bowl may I may which is I to the left and then yokel may which is I if it's on the top of the kanji local Halbert local hen halberd squished to the left of the kanji yeah which is arrow and then yeah hen arrow squished to the left of the kanji EC stone you see hen stone again squished shimasu which is an altar festival a religious service you remember we saw that kanji earlier it's the one that looked like I cut the kind of neck this is just another version of it do you know I see footprint Nagi hen green on that hole or cave and here it is as a moody whole cave again and it's on the top of the kanji Tatsu to stand Tetsu hen to stand on the left side of a kanji Kiba Fang or canine tooth Kiba hen Fang or canine tooth to the left of the kanji his tummy's ooh water I mean a cheetah net and then I mean I see dotnet again Kodomo Hemi which is clothing and again it looks like it cut the kind of net but there's one extra little dash to the right and if you're familiar with aisha no cities it's the Kota mole in hagoromo which is the thing that sara is kept looking for her feathered robe you know which is not now in the six brushstrokes taka bamboos become mu D which is bamboo on the top and yes it's important it's pretty common Colm it is rice and then comb a hen which is yes important rice on the left side of the kanji ito and then ito hen for the left side of the kanji means thread and yeah those are very important kanji needs the gum a earthen jar mmm a net heat Suzy sheep he suji again sheep and it's a variant you'll see it squished and there's a little line on the bottom of it honey feather wing so again that's the hot of ceressus hug or Domo we come moody old old age and this came up earlier if you'll remember this shows the whole kanji though she Costa and also died ski pillow meanie ear Mimi hen ear when it's a radical to the left who did scooty writing brush niku flesh meat remember this one came up earlier this is the one that looks like the moon it looks like ski when it's reduced to radical form see retainer Minister mitsuketa self it's the G&G boom which is a very very common word it's used in Japanese or it's it's also like in G dosha which means car dole means to move and then sha is like vehicles or wheels so self moving vehicle self moving wheels is car so yeah so it's a really useful kanji that you should know II thought you to arrive or reach each Auto hen to arrive or reach with soo mortar or court what's a corn corn I'm gonna look that up a simple hand mill for grinding grain typically consisting of two circular stones the upper of which is rotated or route to and fro on the lower one thank you google anyway stop Tong my se contrary to hoon a ship boat who Anna hensch it boat to the left common boundary Edel color saw grass or plant Touareg a cheetah tiger' mushy worm insect or bug and mushy hen worm in Sector bug important yeah so like the Beast radical anytime you see mushi the mushi radical and something it's probably some kind of animal to do with bugs insects it's in some non bug insect things like it's in frog for example but yeah I mean generally it's unlike creepy crawly things will tend to have this radical cheap blood yogamaya to go so this was interesting note how the left side of this kanji this this radical itself the left side of it is also a radical and this country by itself means you know to go iki masu but as you can see in this case it's a radical where each one of these halves of the kanji appears on the left and the right hand side of some other country so it's like radicals becoming more radicals how radical is that quote um all clothing we already covered this one but this is it like in its full form with all six brushstrokes me she cover or west and again squished and smaller when it's radical booty melon again the this is when it's like written out fully with six brushstrokes now we're in seven brushstroke land me too to see signal horn or corner it's a no hen which is that but to the left of the kanji Ginn words to speak and say and then go men which is that on the left hand side this is one of the first radical examples hi brought up at the beginning of this video which happened two years ago I know this video is getting really super long honey valley tiny hen valley to the left muhmmad bean and then mama hen which is being to the left you know coal pig magine ahem badger kayi shale proper to your wealth and then kayi hen shale property or wealth if it's a radical on the left and yeah that's that's an important kanji and not to be confused with me too if you look at me to again the lines underneath that are kind of curvy but the lines under this are straight akka red has she do to run soon yeol to run uh she foot leg as she hen foot leg and yeah all of those running in foot leg are very important kanji me and me hen are both body ku duma vehicle wheel car I mentioned Dido shot earlier that's the shot and Jada Lucia car kudu ma hen when it's to the left important I remember this radical was in meats cockades character if you're familiar with shigeaki incidentally she Kyoukai have all a lot of these like anecdotal things about kanji and she GU ji and that's because she yuki was kind of my first exposure to kanji very soon after I got into Sailor Moon I got enough cheeky Yugi and if you're not familiar with that series it each celestial warrior has a kanji that glows in a different part of their body so hey that's how I know all these random things anyway I digress today II is bitter she no Tatsu is the fifth zodiac sign or 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. she know to advance move ahead muda community he only know 30 suckage our bird hoodie hen suckage our bird again squished to the left side of the kanji no moment to separate no go me hen two separate subtle I brought this one up earlier so if you combined with fire and you put fire on the bottom of it you get black because you're burning the village south Oh hen in this case if it's a radicals on the left side of the kanji Xin retainer our Minister is she contrary to ER and muggy which is wheat now into eight brushstrokes cunning metal gold mineral this is a very important kanji and you probably learned it your first year of Japanese because it's also the character used in Friday kind of Henan metal gold mineral to the left of the kanji none high long just like this video manga a gate or door close at the hill bades petit to capture hoodoo toady small bird ma Reine very important I make a moody rain on the top and it's kind of fitting for rain to be on top of a congee because it's raining down on the congee owl which is blue or green I will again which is blue or green and you'll see the slight difference in the bottom portion of the congee odds ooh wrong or non this is like the heat in in a lot of kanji when the he is stands for like the antithesis of the next kanji that comes after it like he Joel Joe is like war Daenerys so he Joanie means like extraordinarily or very because Joanie is like normally say yeah this this on its own like it's not really much of a radical but like this this is a really important kanji Shukla hen is food or to eat a very important country because food is amazing and say which is alike on to nine brushstrokes men flat surface or face its Akutagawa leather nimesh Ogawa leather Mita leaked photo sound noise okay head or page kaze wind tobu to fly Shoku food or to eat again but not as a radical this time this is it just as its regular kanji self Kuby head or neck coyote cent now on to ten brushstrokes uma horse and then mahem when it's a cut when it's a radical to the left side of the kanji hone a so I brought this one up earlier when I was talking about when I was trying to explain the niku variant the one that looks like moon but isn't really moon as you can see the bottom of this kanji is that radical and yet honi itself is also a radical double radical tuck ie high or tall come iike Moody long hair like me Takayama it fighting musica herbs Becky tripod Oni demon nama Shania leather on to 11 brushstrokes cool fish will hen which is fish radical to the left and that's pretty important and again like anytime you'll see some kind of sea life sort of kanji it will frequently have rule hen the fish radical toady bird seal salt chica dear Mugi wheat again this is it in its actual kanji form aza hemp si come moody which is a hemp as a radical on top of a kanji key yellow coudl black come a turtle on the 12 brushstrokes key yellow again key B millet coudl black again but look there's like a slight difference in the interior of the top part of the kanji Nieto D embroiderer ha tooth kya do frog tonight tripod again you'll see these are just different ways when they're not radicalized or when they're different forms of the kanji they they're just written slightly differently and therefore have different number of brushstrokes and that is really easy to retain and makes perfect sense suzune e drum needs me rat or mouse Hannah knows say alike and here's the end of it we've got 415 brushstrokes ha tooth again another variant of the other one do which is dragon come it turtle and yaku which is a flute oh my god my throat is so sore from going through all of those hi again are you still awake if you found this information useful go ahead and let me know so I can make more videos like this one also be sure to visit kanji live.com is it really is a valuable resource to people who are kanji also if you like what I do on this channel you can subscribe or whatever but what I really want people to do is to add me on Facebook and Twitter it's much easier to connect their asked questions have polls etc plus I'm selling Sailor Moon amigurumi there

Channel: Sarah Moon

Views: 29,021

Rating: 4.891983 out of 5

Keywords: japan, japanese, translator, anime, manga, otome, game, freelance, translate, self, employed, kanji, radical, learn japanese, meanings, cheat sheet, explained, basic, japanesepod101, learn japanese from zero

Id: UJTy8VlaAng

Length: 31min 3sec (1863 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 13 2018