Radical (Chinese Character)
A Chinese radical (from the Latin radix, meaning "root") is a component of a Chinese character. The term may variously refer to the original semantic (meaning-bearing) element of a character, or to any semantic element, or, loosely, to any element whatever its origin or purpose. The term is commonly used to describe the element under which a character is traditionally listed in a Chinese dictionary, which is often semantic but may sometimes be a phonetic or merely artificially extracted portion of the character. When used in this way as dictionary section headers (Chinese: 部首; pinyin: bùshǒu), radicals form the basis of an indexing system that has classified Chinese characters throughout the ages, from ancient Shuōwén Jiézì characters to their modern successors.
Read more about Radical (Chinese Character): Meaning, Simplified Characters, Lists of Radicals
Famous quotes containing the word radical:
“Any critic is entitled to wrong judgments, of course. But certain lapses of judgment indicate the radical failure of an entire sensibility.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)