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