4-STROKE KANJI RADICALS
Uh oh, running out of “radical” themed quotes – Koichi
Now things are going to really start getting complicated (but hopefully not too bad). As long as you did a good job learning the 1-3 stroke kanji radicals, these should only be a tiny step up. There are a lot of 4-stroke kanji radicals, but from here on out you’ll start to see a decrease in the number of radicals we have to learn (especially as we get into 6, 7, and 8 strokes), at which point we’ll be able to consolidate some of those lessons.
Reminder!
As the radicals get more complicated do not think of them as “more strokes” or “more steps.” You should be able to put together almost any of these 4-stroke (or 5, or 6) radicals in 2 (maybe 3) steps, just by using radicals you’ve previously learned. You need to do this because it will make your life SO much easier. More importantly, however, it’s training you to think of kanji not as individual strokes, but as bigger pieces put together. If you can’t train yourself to think of kanji in this way, you’ll have a lot of trouble when we get into learning the actual kanji. Radicals are just a warm up!
Let’s get started with the 4-stroke kanji radicals. There are a few in here that you’ll have to learn straight-up, but for the most part all of these have a story you can use to help jolt that brain of yours.
4-STROKE RADICALS
Grave Slide: If you look at this radical, you’ll see the radicals for grave and slide. Combine those together and you have a grave slide. Yep, you’re getting on a slide to slide down into a grave. Yuck.
Heart: This kind of looks like a heart, though I think most will agree that it looks more like four random strokes than something you’d find in your chest. This radical does show up quite often, though, and it does actually mean “heart,” so you’re stuck with it. When you look at it, you can see the legs radical with a couple of extra strokes on the right side. You may have to learn this one straight-up unfortunately (but it comes up often enough that it’s really important to learn!)
Ceremonial Slide: Do you remember the radical for Ceremony? Add a slide in there and you have a ceremonial slide. How cool of a ceremony would that be?
Door: This radical contains the one and flag radicals. Over the door of any patriots house is one flag (the flag of their country).
Hand: Do you remember the left hand radical? Well, this is a “normal” hand, consisting of a barb, and a three (with a somewhat crooked top). Normal people have three fingers skewered on a barb.
Holy Stool: There’s a cross on top of a stool. What else is there to say?
Broken Stool: This one is very similar to our winter radical. One small difference, though. This one is broken (which is why the horizontal stroke at the top sticks out more than it should), making it a broken stool. Could have been from too much cold (i.e. winter, perhaps?).
Figure: Did you have GI-Joes as a kid? This figure is from the X-squad (that’s why the bottom consists of an “X”), and this figure had a kettle lid as his helmet. Well protected X-squad man!
Stirring Rod: The main part (stick and one radicals) looks like something that could be good for stirring, and the two dashes on the top left area represent the liquid which is being stirred.
T-Cliff: See the “T” in the cliff?
Direction: This radical actually does mean “direction,” so you’ll just have to deal with it. This radical consists of a kettle lid and the radical for “power” (minus a little nubbin on the left side). By trying to put a kettle lid to on the powerful stew, it gained so much pressure that it shot the lid off in another direction.
Heaven: The bottom half looks like a mountain (not the actual radical for mountain, just the shape of one), and the top half looks like the radical for “construction.” What is constructed at the top of a mountain? Heaven, of course!
Crooked Heaven: Uh oh, looks like something went wrong. Construction is still on the top, but the mountain are now a pair of legs. Heaven is moving on two legs, though things on shelves are getting crooked.
Sun: Since there are no circles in kanji (which we’ve already established many times), a square will do the job. Pretend that this square is a circle, and the line in the middle is the equator of the sun. As you look at this radical, imagine it blowing out heat. This radical is hot, and refers to the sun.
Moon: Can’t have the sun without the moon. The radical for moon is very similar to sun, but the sides are different. The left side is a slide (you know how partial moons look like slides on one side?) and the right side is a barb (connected to an invisible string pulling it away from the sun).
Tree: This one just looks like a tree, right? It’s a cross with things growing out of the “armpits.” Seems very tree-like to me.
Fail: See the mountain stuck in the enclosure? If you ask me, that’s FAILURE on the mountain’s part.
Stop: The radical for stick and shaman stick. If you saw a shaman stick making another stick stand up in the ground on its own, you’d stop and look.
Bad: The radical for night is underground (or under the one). Bad things happen underground, at night.
Stool Next To Table: Finally someone did something smart, and put the stool next to the table.
Compare: If you compare the radicals up and spoon, they are very similar!
Fur: Remember the radical for hair? Add a big ol’ tail sweeping to the right and you have yourself a furry animal.
Family Name: For “family name” you can see that it is part “cliff” and part “ceremony” (not a full ceremony, though, no drinking at this one). Ancient ceremonies to honor your family name took place on cliffs long ago.
Spirit: In this radical, there’s a three, a slide, and a barb. If you slide three times, you’ll hit a barb, and turn into a spirit. Kind of clunky, but should do the trick, as long as you drill it enough.
Water: I know we’ve done a bunch of radicals that use “water / liquid” in them, but this one’s the real deal. This is the “official” and “complete” water radical. You’ll also have to learn this one pretty much straight up, too. Sorry.
Fire: Oh no! That person (radical) is on fire, so we need to throw water (see the drops of liquids?) on him from both sides!
Fish Tail: If half this radical is “fish legs” then this is a fish tail.
Claw: The radical for “left-hand” has a piece similar to this, but this radical is upside down. Only thing more “opposite” than being left-handed in Japan is having a left-handed claw, which is why it’s facing down.
Father: Your father has fish legs on his X-shaped rack.
Double X (xx): Double X’s – simple, right?
Dog: Remember the Big dude from the big radical (which makes up most of this radical?). The big dude’s best friend is a dog, which he keeps on his shoulder.
(Ne)lly: This radical is pretty much the same as the katakana “ne” symbol, so we’re going to call this radical “Nelly.” If you don’t know your katakana at this point, then you’ll have to learn this one straight up.
King: Only the king can afford three sticks during this stick shortage.
Origin: This radical has two parts – the radical for two, and the radical for legs. The origin of people is creatures with two legs.
Community: See the city grid shape in the radical? There’s a community center right in the middle.
Devil Wing: Looks like a devil wing, right? Remember the outer bit of the wing has a barb on it, which makes it very bat like.
Demented Dog: Poor dog must have rabies or something.
Five: For the most part you’re just going to have to learn this one straight up, but if you look carefully you’ll be able to see a “5″ shape in there. Kind of a long shot, but could help you get part way there.
Stabbed Finger: Very similar to the left-hand radical (except the tail goes off to the right in this one). This is what you get for being left handed in Japan, a stabbed middle finger!
Wide Eyed Snake: This is very similar to the snake head skull, but this one has it’s eyes wide open. What is it looking at, I wonder?
Mother: This radical means mother. Hard to pull something out of this, but if you look at it, it looks kind of like a waffle, just like mother used to make. Be weary of the lines that extend out, though. All waffles leak past their barriers – even mom can’t make them perfect.
Cow: This double high cross is tall enough to put a slide on it, but it’s so steep that you need a cow to take you to the top.
Before You Move On:
- Go through the information on this page and go through the 4-stroke section of kanji radicals on Smart.fm. *In Smart.fm, apparently image based flash cards don’t work too well in the “iKnow” version of their flashcards. Use the “Drill” program instead, and it should work just fine.
- Be sure to review 1-3 stroke radicals as well, it’s about to get more complicated and much more “kanji-esque” now!