How many radicals are there?

The traditional dictionary system has 214. You don't need all of them; a few dozen cover most kanji you'll meet early.

Do radicals tell you the meaning?

Often a hint, not a rule. 氵 usually relates to water; 語 has 言 (speech). Many kanji have parts that mainly hint at the sound.

Kanji Radicals and Components: Why Learning the Parts Speeds Things Up

Kanji Mnemonics runs on iPhone and iPad. The app is available in English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

Most kanji aren’t new shapes. They’re combinations of a few hundred recurring parts. Learn the parts and new kanji become familiar faster.

Radical or component?

Radicals are the 214 parts used to sort dictionaries. Components is the broader term for any recurring piece. For learning, the distinction matters less than knowing the common pieces.

Twelve to learn first

Part	Meaning	Examples
亻	person	休体作
氵	water	海池泳
木	tree	林森校
口	mouth	名味右
言 (訁)	speech	語話読
日	sun, day	明時曜
扌	hand	持打指
艹	grass	花茶薬
糸	thread	紙線組
心 (忄)	heart	思意情
宀	roof	家安字
辶	road, movement	道近週

Meaning and sound

Many kanji pair a meaning part with a sound part. 晴 (clear weather) has 日 for meaning and 青 for the sound セイ. The same 青 appears in 清 and 精, also read セイ. Not every kanji works this way, but it’s common enough to notice.

How this helps mnemonics

Once you know 亻 and 木, the story for 休 writes itself. Kanji Mnemonics builds its pictures from the parts you see in the kanji, so learning the parts makes the stories stronger.

Kanji radicals and components: learn the parts, then the kanji

Radical or component?

Twelve to learn first

Meaning and sound

How this helps mnemonics

Questions people ask

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