Definition
部首 refers to the semantic or graphic component of a Chinese character used to organize characters in a dictionary — the 'radical'. Each character is assigned to one of about 214 traditional radicals, which helps you look up an unfamiliar character by its most prominent component. For example, 妈 belongs to the 女 (woman) radical, and 机 belongs to the 木 (wood/tree) radical. Knowing common radicals makes guessing meanings and using paper dictionaries much easier.
noun
radical of a Chinese character (used for dictionary lookup and semantic classification)
Examples
- ，部首。Chá zìdiǎn de shíhou, nǐ xiān yào quèdìng zì de bù shǒu.When looking up a dictionary, you first need to determine the character's radical.
- ，部首。Zhège zì rúguǒ bù zhīdào dúyīn, kěyǐ àn bù shǒu lái zhǎo.If you don't know the pronunciation of this character, you can find it by radical.
- 部首。Xué Hànzì shí jìshú chángyòng de bù shǒu huì bāng hěn dà máng.Memorizing common radicals when learning characters will help a lot.
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