The word for radical in Chinese is 部首. This term is often conflated with 偏旁 (piānpáng), or simply 旁 (páng). A radical, or component of a character, usually indicates its meaning. 水 (shuǐ; water) with a 冫 becomes 冰 (bīng, ice). The 冫 hints that the character pertains to ice, like the "glaci-" in glacier. Radicals may also be used to differentiate characters that sound alike. 东 (dōng; east, owner) with a 冫 becomes 冻 (dòng; to freeze, jelly). Radicals, like characters, sometimes suggest their meaning by their appearance, for example, the 亻 in 他 (tā; him) is a compressed 人, and the 氵 in 江 (jiāng; river) looks like three water droplets. Radicals reduce the amount of memorization needed, be it for the language's ancient inventors or for you. In Chinese, the large number of homophones and rhyming words make this scheme possible. A character can have multiple radicals, for example, 捌 (bā; eight, see Numbers). Traditionally, the left part of composite characters was referred to as “piān” and the right side referred to as “páng.” Now, all parts of compound characters are generally referred to as “piānpáng.” For example, the left part of a compound character is referred to as 左偏旁 (zuǒ piānpáng), and the right side as 右偏旁 (yòu piānpáng).

Names of Radicals 中文偏旁的名称

The radicals, strokes, and Chinese character components found in Chinese characters often have different names in the different dialects of Chinese. For Standard Mandarin Chinese in Mainland China, one of the most authoritative listings of the names of Chinese character components is found in Specification of Common Modern Chinese Character Components and Component Names (现代汉语常用字部件及部件名称规范). In addition, the appendices of Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (现代汉语词典) and Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian (现代汉语规范词典) include lists of some of the frequently occurring radicals and other components.