字の旅2,200 years in two forms
Small seal · QinQin · 221 BCE說文‧穴部
Small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
部首Radical · in Nature & Elements
穴 hole (top radical)
あなかんむり anakanmuri
5 strokesRadical of 9 kanjiPart of 9
Origin · sourced
Pictogram象形
Pictogram (象形)—possibly an entrance to a cave or a door flap. A conservative version is 𠕉.
Source: Wiktionary, 穴 (rev. 92541811), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“When you see this 'hole' crown on top of a kanji, imagine a roof with an opening. It tells you that the character involves a hollow space, a window, or something that is hidden deep inside a structure.”
Where it sits in a kanji
Indicates hollow spaces, openings, or the quality of being deep and cavernous
What it grows into
- 突stabトツ · つく
穴 + 犬
Shuowen: Ideogrammic compound (會意): 穴 (“cave; den”) + 犬 (“dog”) – a dog suddenly coming out of a den.
Ideogrammic compound · Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
- 窯kilnヨウ · かま
穴 + 羔sound
It represents a hole used for firing pottery, which is a pottery kiln.
Phono-semantic compound · Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
- 空emptyクウ · そら
穴 + 工sound
Phono-semantic compound · Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Every kanji with 穴 as its radical
All 9 kanji