字の旅3,000 years in four forms
Oracle bone · ShangShang · c. 1200 BCE甲12.18 (商)
Oracle bone, bronze and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The oracle bone, bronze and seal stages show 麥, not 麦 itself.
部首Radical · in Action & Movement
麦 wheat, barley
むぎ mugi
7 strokesRadical of 2 kanjiPart of 1
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound形聲
Phono-semantic compound (形聲): phonetic 來 + semantic 夊 (“footprint pointing down; to walk slowly”); according to Xu Shen, its meaning is "wheat". 來 was the original character for “wheat”.
Built from 來 (sound) + 夊 “footprint pointing down; to walk slowly” (meaning)
Source: Wiktionary, 麥 (rev. 92431106), the entry for the full form, CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“The golden harvest has arrived! This radical represents the staple grains like wheat, barley, and oats that have fueled entire civilizations for millennia. When you see it, think of fresh baking, daily nutrition, and the steady, patient growth of a sun-drenched field. It brings the warmth of the autumn sun and the abundant life-giving energy of the earth to its characters.”
Where it sits in a kanji
Indicates wheat, barley, and other cereal grains, the process of harvesting, flour-based food (noodles), and the fermentation of grains (yeast/koji).
Every kanji with 麦 as its radical
All 2 kanji