Kanji Kaisen

字の旅3,000 years in three forms

Oracle bone · ShangShang · c. 1200 BCE甲3729, 合18007

Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

部首Radical · in Action & Movement

欠

欠 to lack, yawn

あくび akubi

4 strokesRadical of 10 kanjiPart of 15

Your ink in 欠0% painted · 0 of 10 familiar

Origin · sourced

Pictogram象形

A kneeling person with mouth open for various reasons (e.g., begging 欠, speaking and/or spitting while speaking 次, blowing 吹, singing 歌, desiring 欲, being tired 軟, vomiting 歐...).

Source: Wiktionary, 欠 (rev. 89922818), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Look at that wide-open mouth! Someone is either so tired they are yawning (akubi) or they are gasping because they are in a state of "lack." When you see this radical, think of an opening, a void, or a missing piece that needs to be filled. It often points to desires, emotions, or actions involving the mouth.”

Where it sits in a kanji

Indicates a state of lacking, an emotional desire, or a physical action involving an open mouth (like singing or breathing).

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育つ

What it grows into

Built from 欠, with sourced origins
一覧

Every kanji with 欠 as its radical

Most used first
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered

All 10 kanji

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