How do I know which radical in a character is the primary radical?


I recently acquired _The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary_ ,
and all of the characters inside are ordered by radicals. I understand what a
radical is in the most basic sense--sub sections of Kanji Characters that
reoccur in many different characters throughout the language. I also
understand that they often affect the meaning of the overall character.

I am largely self taught, with the exception of an advanced college course
that I took. I have studied some kanji Characters, and can read about 400-600
characters. However, in my experience I have not received any formal training
in radicals.

So, how do I determine which radical in a character is the primary radical?

**Bonus:**

I'm still studying this on my own, so you don't have to answer this if you
don't want to. I think I'll be able to figure it out eventually. If you know a
simple way to explaining the order of radicals, or the best way to study them,
that would be welcome too.




There is a list of steps [here](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/how-to-find-
the-kanji-radical/).

According to that page, here are the places, going in order, that you should
look for the radical:

**1. The entire character**

If the entire character is a radical, then... well, that's the radical.
Examples are 人 and 火. Also, if the character only contains one radical (not
listed in one of the 214 [Kangxi
radicals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_radical)), then obviously that
is as well.

**2. Enclosures**

Anything covering 2-4 sides of the character. Examples are 气, 凵, or 囗.

**3. Left**

Radicals on the left of the compound, but not underneath anything (e.g. 言 in 罰
does not count). There are tons of possible radicals here, but the left parts
of 忙, 休, and 私 are some examples.

**4. Right**

Same as above, but on the right. Examples include the right parts of 次 and 部.

**5. Top**

Grass (艹) and roof (宀) are very common examples, in characters like 花 and 守.
Note that it has to be covering the _entire_ rest of the character, so
something like grass in 描 doesn't count; the mountain in 崩 counts because it's
entirely covering everything else.

**6. Bottom**

If the top part is complex, it may be the bottom. 力 in 勢 is an example; so is
木 in 楽 and 示 in 禁.

**7. Top Left**

Now we're getting a little desperate. If the entire character is split into a
left piece and a right piece, but neither is a radical, then try the upper
part of the left half. For example, the radical of 執 turns out to be 土.

**8. Top right**

If it's not in the top left, then try the top right. For example, 目 is the
radical of 県.

**9. Bottom right**

The mouth in 君 is in the bottom right, I guess.

**10. Bottom left**

I can't even find any examples other than what the site I linked gave, even
among non-jouyou kanji. The bottom part of 虱 is the radical (because the
enclosing part isn't actually a radical), and 米 in 糶.

**11. Somewhere else**

There always has to be a catch-all, right? For example, 言 is the radical in 讎.

* * *

There are probably exceptions, or cases where it's hard to tell/borderline (in
fact, a few examples I gave probably fall into that category). In the worst
case scenario, you can at least narrow it down to two or so options and then
try both.




There is a list of steps [here](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/how-to-find-
the-kanji-radical/).

According to that page, here are the places, going in order, that you should
look for the radical:

**1. The entire character**

If the entire character is a radical, then... well, that's the radical.
Examples are 人 and 火. Also, if the character only contains one radical (not
listed in one of the 214 [Kangxi
radicals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_radical)), then obviously that
is as well.

**2. Enclosures**

Anything covering 2-4 sides of the character. Examples are 气, 凵, or 囗.

**3. Left**

Radicals on the left of the compound, but not underneath anything (e.g. 言 in 罰
does not count). There are tons of possible radicals here, but the left parts
of 忙, 休, and 私 are some examples.

**4. Right**

Same as above, but on the right. Examples include the right parts of 次 and 部.

**5. Top**

Grass (艹) and roof (宀) are very common examples, in characters like 花 and 守.
Note that it has to be covering the _entire_ rest of the character, so
something like grass in 描 doesn't count; the mountain in 崩 counts because it's
entirely covering everything else.

**6. Bottom**

If the top part is complex, it may be the bottom. 力 in 勢 is an example; so is
木 in 楽 and 示 in 禁.

**7. Top Left**

Now we're getting a little desperate. If the entire character is split into a
left piece and a right piece, but neither is a radical, then try the upper
part of the left half. For example, the radical of 執 turns out to be 土.

**8. Top right**

If it's not in the top left, then try the top right. For example, 目 is the
radical of 県.

**9. Bottom right**

The mouth in 君 is in the bottom right, I guess.

**10. Bottom left**

I can't even find any examples other than what the site I linked gave, even
among non-jouyou kanji. The bottom part of 虱 is the radical (because the
enclosing part isn't actually a radical), and 米 in 糶.

**11. Somewhere else**

There always has to be a catch-all, right? For example, 言 is the radical in 讎.

* * *

There are probably exceptions, or cases where it's hard to tell/borderline (in
fact, a few examples I gave probably fall into that category). In the worst
case scenario, you can at least narrow it down to two or so options and then
try both.

