TIL #3 – Name for kanji radicals that just make sense
For the longest time, I just thought 禾 was a word by itself, that it was read のぎ, and that was basically it. Well, there's more…
What's a TIL?
TIL is an acronym for the phrase ‘Today I learned,’ and is often used to share a piece of knowledge or fact that was recently learned.
What does it mean in the context of this blog?
TIL is a series of short articles about a word, a phrase, or something else related to the Japanese language.
Funny/useful words or expressions that I learned which surprised me, and that I would like to share on this blog. It's a way to get myself in the habit of posting more regularly.
Don't expect daily TILs, but I will do my best to write frequently.
TIL the origin for the radical names of 禾 and 釆
If you've been learning kanji radicals, you probably came across this radical: 禾 called のぎへん. It appears in characters like 秋（あき：autumn）or 稲（いね：rice plant）or even 私（わたし：I）
For the longest time, I just thought 禾 was a word by itself, that it was read のぎ, and that was basically it.
And you know what, for the most part that's true. There is a word that is read のぎ, and it can be written 禾, so what's this TIL about? Well there's more…!
You see, that のぎ is actually written 芒, and 禾 is an alternative character to which we gave this reading.
And you want to know why it's called のぎへん？Because it is ノ(the katakana no)＋木 (with rendaku). I wish I were kidding.
And now you're probably wondering: Are there other such radicals? I'm glad you asked!! Enter 釆.
You've maybe seen this one in the second character of 解釈（かいしゃく：interpretation）and maybe 釉 if you're a nerd, but that's about it for characters that use it on the left. (although it can be seen in 番).
So now, guess what it's called when it's in the left position of a kanji. It can't be のごめへん right?
WRONG! It is ノ米編.
Imagine the surprise on my face when I realised that.
Conclusion
That was a short one, but in one sentence, 禾編 is called のぎへん because it is composed of ノand 木, and 釆 is also called のごめへん for the same reason.
木偏 → きへん 禾偏 → のぎへん
米偏 → こめへん 釆 → のごめへん