In the next section, we’ll explore methods for learning kanji, but since these methods build on radicals, we first need to understand what radicals are.
Kanji came first, as writing system. Radicals are kanji's recurring components that were created later as classification tool.
Each kanji is categorized under one radical (for dictionary lookup), though it may contain more parts.
Originally, many were pictographs: 木 = tree, 水 = water, 口 = mouth.
Over time, they became semantic indicators: 言 (speech radical) appears in kanji related to language/speaking → 語 (word) , 話 (Talk) , 読 (Read).
Some are also phonetic hints, but the radical is usually about meaning.
Some kanji are just a radical on its own : 木 = “tree” is both the kanji and a radical, it's also part of some kanji, but not their radical : 相 has 木 on the left, but 目 is the radical.
There are 214 traditional radicals in the Kangxi system.
The Kangxi system is the traditional way of classifying kanji / hanzi (Chinese characters) using 214 radicals. It comes from the Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典), published in China in 1716 during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (Qing dynasty). This system became the standard in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam for organizing characters in dictionaries.
Each character is assigned a main radical (its head radical). Characters are then grouped under that radical in the dictionary. Within each radical section, characters are sorted further by stroke count.
The radical 水 (water) is Radical #85. All kanji with the water radical (河, 海, 湖, 泳, 酒, etc.) are listed under it, sorted by how many strokes the full character has.
The 214 Kangxi radicals are still the standard in Chinese and Japanese dictionaries. Even though not every radical is equally useful today (some are very rare), the system has stayed the same for over 300 years. Take into consideration that as the language evolved, some kanji changed their form, and nowadays for some example, the link between kanji and radical may not be obvious anymore. It’s more of a classification system than a reflection of language evolution.
Organization: Kanji dictionaries traditionally organize characters by radical.
Meaning clues: The radical often shows the semantic field (e.g., 氵 “water” appears in kanji related to liquids: 海 “sea,” 酒 “alcohol”).
Learning aid: Recognizing radicals helps break down complex kanji into smaller, easier-to-remember parts.
Handwriting: Knowing radicals makes remembering stroke order easier when writing a kanji.
In Chinese: yes, but names are descriptive, not fixed by law. Often they just use the reading of the radical itself (e.g., 口 = kǒu).
In Japanese: radicals have conventional names, especially based on position. Since radicals can change shape depending on where they appear it became useful to give them distinct nicknames based on position.
hen (偏) = when on the left
tsukuri (旁) = when on the right
kanmuri (冠) = when on top
ashi (脚) = when on bottom
kamae (構え) = when enclosing
These names are traditional and widely taught (like in school or calligraphy), but they aren’t government-enforced “official” in Japan — more like long-standing standard terms.
Radicals don't have official names in English. Radicals are usually referred to by their meaning (e.g., 言 = “speech radical,” 木 = “tree radical,” 水 = “water radical”).
In Japanese education, radicals aren’t primarily taught as meaning clues (though they do help mnemonically). Instead, they’re taught as a way to categorize and find characters. The meaning comes later, when you study etymology or kanji compounds.
In contrast, in English / Japanese-as-foreign-language learning, radicals are often presented as meaning carriers because that helps memory.
Some Radicals like Water (水 ), Mouth (口), Tree (木) , Human (人) appear in more than 100 kanji. Some appear only once.
Some represent ancient tools/objects not relevant in modern language. But they remain in the system because removing them would break dictionary consistency.
Many radicals change shape depending on their position.
人 (“Person”) → 亻 when on the left (佐), or 𠆢 at the top (会).
These are not separate radicals — they are positional variants of the same radical : 人. In the 214 system, they’re all considered one radical.