Radical 7 of 20 · へん · left
口 くちへん: mouth
The mouth: eating, tasting, calling, breathing in.
Heads 33 of the 1026 kanji taught in Japanese primary school.
字源 · WHY THIS SHAPE
From a picture to 口
- 1. The picture
An open mouth, later squared off by people writing with brushes.
- 2. On the left, and everywhere else
As a radical it keeps the same shape. It is just smaller, on the left (味), on top (員) or at the bottom (告).
Origins follow the commonly taught explanations. Where scholars disagree, we say so.
What the family is about
The mouth: eating, tasting, calling, breathing in.
- 味flavor
- 呼call
- 吸suck
- 唱chant
When the hint fails
口 is one of the least reliable hints. Often it is just a box shape, not a mouth.
- 右right
- 同same
- 品goods
The 口 family, grade by grade
Every primary-school kanji filed under 口. Tap one to see its meaning.
Grade 1小1 · 3
名
name, noted口
mouth右
right
Grade 2小2 · 4
同
same, agree合
fit, suit台
pedestal, a stand古
old
Grade 3小3 · 10
員
employee, member問
question, ask和
harmony, Japanese style向
yonder, facing品
goods, refinement商
make a deal, selling味
flavor, taste命
fate, command号
nickname, number君
mister, you
Grade 4小4 · 5
各
each, every器
utensil, vessel周
circumference, circuit司
director, official唱
chant, recite
Grade 5小5 · 6
告
revelation, tell営
camp, perform可
can, passable史
history, chronicle喜
rejoice, take pleasure in句
phrase, clause
Grade 6小6 · 5
呼
call, call out to否
negate, no善
virtuous, good吸
suck, imbibe后
empress, queen
Family: kanji whose classical radical in KANJIDIC2 is 口 (no. 30). KANJIDIC2 © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.