Radical 20 of 20 · へん · left
彳 ぎょうにんべん: going
Going, roads, and how you behave on your way: waiting, returning, following.
Heads 11 of the 1026 kanji taught in Japanese primary school.
字源 · WHY THIS SHAPE
From a picture to 彳
- 1. The picture
行 (go) began as a picture of a crossroads, two streets crossing.
- 2. Half a crossroads
The left half, 彳, means a step along the road. It looks like a doubled 亻, so it is called ぎょうにんべん, “the 行 person radical”.
Origins follow the commonly taught explanations. Where scholars disagree, we say so.
What the family is about
Going, roads, and how you behave on your way: waiting, returning, following.
- 待wait
- 往journey
- 復restore
- 従accompany
When the hint fails
It has nothing to do with people, even though it looks like 亻.
- 得gain
- 徳benevolence
The 彳 family, grade by grade
Every primary-school kanji filed under 彳. Tap one to see its meaning.
Grade 2小2 · 1
後
behind, back
Grade 3小3 · 2
役
duty, war待
wait, depend on
Grade 4小4 · 3
徒
on foot, junior徳
benevolence, virtue径
diameter, path
Grade 5小5 · 3
得
gain, get復
restore, return to往
journey, travel
Grade 6小6 · 2
従
accompany, obey律
rhythm, law
Family: kanji whose classical radical in KANJIDIC2 is 行 (no. 60). KANJIDIC2 © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.