Many kanji characters are composed of 2 or more components. These components are called 部首(ブシュ), radicals. Radicals are divided into 7 kinds depending on their location within the kanji character.
偏(ヘン): left side of a kanji – 亻(にんべん), 牜(うしへん), 忄(りっしんべん), etc.
旁(つくり): right side of a kanji – 刂(りっとう), 卩(ふしづくり), 頁(おおがい), etc.
冠(かんむり): top part of a kanji – 艹(くさかんむり), 宀(うかんむり). 竹(たけかんむり). etc
脚(あし): bottom part of a kanji – 心(したごころ), 灬(れっか). 皿(さら). etc.
構(かまえ): outside of a kanji – 冂(えんがまえ), 囗(くにがまえ), 門(もんがまえ), etc.
垂(たれ): top and left side of a kanji – 厂(がんだれ), 广(まだれ), 疒(やまいだれ), etc.
繞(ニョウ): left side and bottom of a kanji – 辶(しんにょう), 廴(えんにょう), 走(そうにょう), etc.
These radicals often function as a semantic component of a kanji. If you know these meanings, it will make it easier to remember more complicated kanji characters.
You don’t need to know the names of radicals, but there are occasions when it is handy to know the name of common ones. For example, when you want to specify the kanji 詩 over the phone, if you just say シ (the only official reading of this kanji), the other party may think of 死, 詞 or 資… because there are a great number of characters that are pronounced as シ, but if you say “ごんべん(言)に ‘てら(寺)'”, then there is no room for a mistake.
I usually mention names of these common radicals when I post a kanji, so try remembering them. I’m sure that it will help you in the long run.
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