bou6 sau2部首

Jyutpingbou6 sau2

Yalebouh sáu

名詞Uncommon

Definition

Radical of a Chinese character, used to index characters in traditional dictionaries based on shape.

neutralschool

How it's used

Primarily used in the context of learning Chinese characters or navigating traditional paper dictionaries. While modern digital input methods often rely on pinyin or stroke count, understanding radicals remains essential for deciphering the semantic components of complex characters.

Measure word

go3個go

Examples

nei5你zi1知m4唔zi1知「hoi2海」zi6字ge3嘅bou6部sau2首hai6係me1咩aa4呀？

Do you know what the radical of the character "海" is?

caa4查zi6字din2典go2嗰zan6陣，sau2首sin1先jiu3要wan2搵faan1返go3個bou6部sau2首ceot1出lai4嚟。

When looking up a dictionary, you first need to find the radical.

Common phrases

bou6部sau2首sok3索jan5引

radical index

zaa1查bou6部sau2首

to look up a radical

Common mistake

Beginners often confuse the radical with the entire left side of a character, whereas the radical is specifically the standardized component used for classification in dictionaries.