The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji. Kenneth G. Henshall
and Katakana and Their Source Characters
The 214 Determinatives (or ‘Radicals’) System
Note 1: This system was first employed in the Zihui dictionary of 1615 and then adopted as standard in later character dictionaries, replacing the highly innovative but unwieldy system of 540 determinatives known as 部首 (J. bushu, Ch. bushou) used in the Shuowen jiezi (ca.100AD), the earliest extant complete character dictionary compiled in China. The 214 system has been used now for some centuries and continues to be a familiar framework of arrangement for characters in Japan and China, sometimes found with modifications, especially in the People’s Republic of China. The popular character dictionary Xinhua zidian (New Chinese Character Dictionary), published there from 1953 onwards, for example, employs a modified system of 189 determinatives. Below is the full list of the 214 determinatives still widely used in Japanese character dictionaries today. In some instances the English equivalent is just a convenient label, not a translation.
Note 2: While used widely as a system of arrangement in character dictionaries, the traditional system of 214 determinatives is not the main referencing system used in this book, in which the numbers for characters and character elements relate to the individual entries. For details, see Introduction (Section 7.6).
Note 3: Cross-reference numbers under ‘Alternative forms/nicknames/comments’ below relate only to the numbered determinatives in the list below, not to entry numbers in the main part of this book.
No. | English | Alternative forms/nickname/comments | |
1 | 一 | one | |
2 | 丨 | rod | |
3 | 丶 | dot | |
4 | 丿 | ‘kana no’ | |
5 | 乙 | fishhook | 乚 |
6 | 亅 | barb | |
7 | 二 | two | |
8 | 亠 | lid | |
9 | 人 | person | |
10 | 儿 | person variant | nickname: bent legs |
11 | 入 | entering | |
12 | 八 | eight, split, separate | |
13 | 冂 | box cover | |
14 | 冖 | a cover | |
15 | 冫 | ice | |
16 | 几 | table enclosure | |
17 | 凵 | open box | |
18 | 刀 | knife, sword | 刂 |
19 | 力 | strength | |
20 | 勹 | wrapping enclosure | |
21 | 匕 | ladle | CO 匕 is separate graph element |
22 | 匚 | box on side | |
23 | 匸 | box projects out | |
24 | 十 | cross | |
25 | 卜 | divination | |
26 | 卩 | kneeling person | |
27 | 厂 | cliff | |
28 | 厶 | self, ‘kana mu’ | |
29 | 又 | (right) hand | |
30 | 口 | mouth | |
31 | 囗 | ‘country’ enclosure | |
32 | 土 | earth | |
33 | 士 | warrior | |
34 | 夂 | descending foot | nickname: crossed legs |
35 | 夊 | walk slowly/drag foot | |
36 | 夕 | evening | |
37 | 大 | big | |
38 | 女 | woman | |
39 | 子 | child | |
40 | 宀 | roof | |
41 | 寸 | 3-stroke hand | |
42 | 小 | small | |
43 | 尢 | crooked leg | |
44 | 尸 | corpse/lying figure | |
45 | 屮 | single plant | |
46 | 山 | mountain | |
47 | 川 | river | |
48 | 工 | carpenter’s square | |
49 | 己 | self | |
50 | 巾 | cloth | |
51 | 干 | dry | |
52 | 幺 | fine/small thread | |
53 | 广 | roof, building | |
54 | 廴 | move, go | |
55 | 廾 | raise up | |
56 | 弋 | stake, weapon handle | |
57 | 弓 | bow | |
58 | 彐 | animal head | |
59 | 彡 | adorn, brush hairs, etc. | |
60 | 彳 | crossroads, go | |
61 | 心 | heart, mind | 忄 |
62 | 戈 | halberd | |
63 | 戸 | door | |
64 | 手 | hand | 扌 |
65 | 支 | branch, support | |
66 | 攴 | strike with stick, etc. | 攵 |
67 | 文 | pattern, writing | |
68 | 斗 | ladle | |
69 | 斤 | axe | |
70 | 方 | side, direction | |
71 | 旡 | choking figure | |
72 | 日 | sun, day | |
73 | 曰 | speak | |
74 | 月 | moon | |
75 | 木 | tree | |
76 | 欠 | yawn, open mouth | |
77 | 止 | stop | |
78 | 歹 | skeletal bones | |
79 | 殳 | attack with weapon | |
80 | 毋 | not violate woman | 母 ‘mother’ is different graph |
81 | 比 | compare | |
82 | 毛 | hair, fur | |
83 | 氏 | Mr., clan | |
84 | 气 | vapor | |
85 | 水 | water, liquid | 氵 |
86 | 火 | fire | 灬 |
87 | 爪 | claw, hand | 爫; distinguish 爪 from 瓜 (det. 97) |
88 | 父 | father | |
89 | 爻 | mix | |
90 | 爿 | boards (for bed, etc.) | |
91 | 片 | one side (of tree [木]) | |
92 | 牙 | fang, tusk | |
93 | 牛 | cow | 牜 |
94 | 犬 | dog | 犭 |
95 | 玄 | dark | |
96 | 玉 | jade, jewel | dot often omitted (compound graphs) |
97 | 瓜 | melon | distinguish from 爪 (det. 87) |
98 | 瓦 | tile | |
99 | 甘 | sweet | |
100 | 生 | birth, life, raw | |
101 | 用 | use | |
102 | 田 | field | |
103 | 疋 | leg variant | |
104 | 疒 | sickness | |
105 | 癶 | spring from, start | |
106 | 白 | white | |
107 | 皮 | skin, hide | |
108 | 皿 | bowl | |
109 | 目 | eye | occasionally 罒; see also 网 (det. 122) |
110 | 矛 | spear, halberd | |
111 | 矢 | arrow | |
112 | 石 | stone | |
113 | 示 | altar, show | 礻 |
114 | 禸 | creature with tail | |
115 | 禾 | grain plant | |
116 | 穴 | cave, hole | |
117 | 立 | stand | |
118 | 竹 | bamboo | |
119 | 米 | rice | |
120 | 糸 | thread | |
121 | 缶 | earthen jar, can | |
122 | 网 | net | common in compound graphs, written 罒 |
123 | 羊 | sheep | |
124 | 羽 | wings, feathers | |
125 | 老 | old | |
126 | 而 | beard, whiskers | |
127 | 耒 | plough | |
128 | 耳 | ear | |
129 | 聿 | writing |