2020/04/05 R Flashcards
Radicals
匕
Spoon
This radical looks like a spoon! Well, a spoon that’s been bent a lot by an angry person or a psychic. Go grab a spoon and try to bend it into this shape. Then hold on to it so you’ll never forget that this is the spoon radical!
夂
Winter
This looks kind of like a footprint, but not an ordinary, old footprint. A snowshoe footprint in the snow. Why? Because it’s winter! And everyone knows the snowshoe footprint is the universal symbol for winter.
干
Dry
You have two on a stick. Two what? Well, you can’t tell because they’re too dry. Someone put two somethings on this stick to dry, but they seem to have left them out for way too long. Was it meat? Fish? Cucumbers? You have no clue, but they’re two very dry somethings, that’s for sure.
广
Canopy
This is a canopy. See the cloth draping down and the little point at the middle holding it up? You could sit under here and enjoy a bright, summer day without getting any sun!
扌
Fingers
This looks like the hand (手) radical, but smaller. That’s because it’s just the fingers. You don’t always have room for a whole hand to be in a kanji, but there’s always space for a few fingers.
元
Origin
You have two legs making up this radical. Between two legs is where you came from, no matter how you look at it. These two legs are your origin.
心
Heart
Take a good look at this one. It kind of looks like a heart (not the stereotypical Valentine’s Day heart, though). Think of a real heart. Basically, there’s a lump (the heart) in the middle, and three lines which make up the arteries that go in and out of the heart to keep you alive. This radical shows up a lot, so it shouldn’t be too hard to learn it as you go along. Remember, lump (heart) plus arteries equals a heart… like, a real heart, not the fake, pretty kind.
方
Direction
This radical looks like a dude running off to the right. He’s heading in a very distinct direction. Which direction was it again?
毛
Fur
Do you remember the hair radical? This is like that, except now the hair is attached to a tail. Animals don’t usually have hair, though. Instead, they have fur.
父
Father
There are fins covering the treasure making up this radical. You pull away the fins and start digging where the X is (because “X” marks where the treasure is, right?). When you dig down, instead of finding treasure, you find your father. The shock of this in your imagination should help you to remember the meaning of this radical!
古
Old
You have a cross on a mouth—that’s a pretty religious mouth. Who speaks the most about religion? Old people, mostly. Also, think about the teachings of religion itself - also pretty old, age-wise. No matter how you look at it, everything about this radical is kind of “old.”
用
Task
This looks a bit like a calendar with spaces for you to write in your tasks for the day. See those blank sections? Make sure you write down your daily tasks, so you don’t forget to do something important!
矢
Arrow
You have a really big gun. Why? Because only big guns will be able to shoot arrows! Bullets are pretty small, so the guns that shoot them can be any size. But you need a big gun if you want to shove an arrow in it and then shoot it at your enemies.
戸
Door
Where does a flag usually go? It goes over a door. I know the 一 radical usually means ground, but in this case we’re going to say the flag is in the doorway (where the 一 is the top of the door).
幺
Poop
There’s something sticking out of you while you’re in private. It’s poop! You can’t just poop in public, that’s illegal and gross in this day and age. So the next time something starts to come out of you when you’re in private, think, “Ah yes, it’s poop.”
