字の旅3,000 years in four forms
Oracle bone · ShangShang · c. 1200 BCE甲499 (商)
Oracle bone, bronze and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
部首Radical · in Communication & Thought
言
言 words, to say
げん gen
7 strokesRadical of 2 kanjiPart of 73
Your ink in 言0% painted · 0 of 2 familiar
Origin · sourced
Ideogram指事
From 口 and ▽(possibly original form of 弋, marking location). Later: from 口 and 辛 or 䇂 (possibly mixed with 舌).
Source: Wiktionary, 言 (rev. 93383581), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Speak up! Picture a mouth with words stacking up above it, ready to be heard. In its full form this radical carries the weight of spoken words—warnings, promises, and declarations. When you see the complete 言 holding up the bottom of a kanji, think of words that are meant to be taken seriously.”
Where it sits in a kanji
Indicates speaking, words, language, and acts done with words, such as warning, vowing, or declaring.
育つ
What it grows into
Built from 言, with sourced origins
- 警admonishケイ · いましめる
敬sound + 言
Phono-semantic compound · Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
一覧
Every kanji with 言 as its radical
Most used first
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
All 2 kanji