Radical 1 of 20 · へん · left
亻 にんべん: person
People: what they are, what they do, and the roles they play.
Heads 53 of the 1026 kanji taught in Japanese primary school.
字源 · WHY THIS SHAPE
From a picture to 亻
Oracle bone 甲骨文
c. 1200 BCE
Bronze 金文
c. 1000 BCE
Seal 篆書
c. 220 BCE- 人Today
Ancient forms: one attested example each, from the Ancient Chinese characters project on Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Shapes varied a lot by time and place. Tap an image for its source.
- 1. The picture
A person seen from the side, standing and leaning slightly forward. The two strokes are the body and the legs.
- 2. Squeezed to the left
When 人 moves to the left side of a kanji it has to get thin. The leaning stroke stays, and the second stroke stands straight up. That narrow person is 亻.
Origins follow the commonly taught explanations. Where scholars disagree, we say so.
What the family is about
People: what they are, what they do, and the roles they play.
- 休rest
- 体body
- 住dwell
- 作make
When the hint fails
On top of a kanji the same radical is spread out as a little roof (今, 会). There the meaning link is weak.
- 今now
- 会meeting
The 亻 family, grade by grade
Every primary-school kanji filed under 亻. Tap one to see its meaning.
Grade 1小1 · 2
人
person休
rest, day off
Grade 2小2 · 5
会
meeting, meet今
now体
body, substance作
make, production何
what
Grade 3小3 · 7
代
substitute, change使
use, send on a mission係
person in charge, connection住
dwell, reside仕
attend, doing他
other, another倍
double, twice
Grade 4小4 · 18
以
by means of, because信
faith, truth側
side, lean位
rank, grade付
adhere, attach例
example, custom伝
transmit, go along働
work, (kokuji)低
lower, short佐
assistant, help候
climate, season健
healthy, health億
hundred million, 10**8便
convenience, facility令
orders, laws仲
go-between, relationship借
borrow, rent倉
godown, warehouse
Grade 5小5 · 14
保
protect, guarantee件
affair, case任
responsibility, duty価
value, price備
equip, provision個
individual, counter for articles修
discipline, conduct oneself well余
too much, myself停
halt, stopping仏
Buddha, the dead像
statue, picture似
becoming, resemble仮
sham, temporary舎
cottage, inn
Grade 6小6 · 7
供
submit, offer優
tenderness, excel値
price, cost傷
wound, hurt俳
haiku, actor仁
humanity, virtue俵
bag, bale
Family: kanji whose classical radical in KANJIDIC2 is 人 (no. 9). KANJIDIC2 © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.