Radical 部首

bùshǒu · from Chinese (via Latin radix)

What is a radical in Chinese characters?

A radical is the component of a Chinese character used to classify it in dictionaries, often hinting at its meaning, such as 氵 water.

The traditional set of 214 Kangxi radicals comes from the 1716 Kangxi Dictionary. Characters sharing a radical often belong to the same semantic field: 氵 for liquids, 木 for trees and wood, 口 for mouth and speech. Learning radicals turns thousands of characters into recombinations of a few hundred parts.

Examples

氵 (water): 河 hé (river), 海 hǎi (sea), 洗 xǐ (wash); 木 (tree): 林 lín (grove), 森 sēn (forest); 口 (mouth): 吃 chī (eat)

Kungfucius says: Radicals: the Lego bricks of Chinese. Step on one at night and you will know.