Radical 5 of 20 · にょう · wrap-under
辶 しんにょう: move
Moving, roads, and distance: going, coming back, near and far.
Heads 24 of the 1026 kanji taught in Japanese primary school.
字源 · WHY THIS SHAPE
From a picture to 辶
Bronze 金文
c. 1000 BCE- 彳Today
a step on a road
Seal 篆書
c. 220 BCE- 辵Today
the two together
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
Two older pictures put together: 彳, a step along a road, and 止, a foot. Together they mean walking along a road.
- 2. Brushed into a curve
Writers with brushes ran the strokes together into one quick wave. It now wraps around the left side and bottom of the kanji.
Origins follow the commonly taught explanations. Where scholars disagree, we say so.
What the family is about
Moving, roads, and distance: going, coming back, near and far.
- 道road-way
- 近near
- 遠distant
- 送escort
When the hint fails
A few are about choosing or leaving rather than walking.
- 選elect
- 遺bequeath
The 辶 family, grade by grade
Every primary-school kanji filed under 辶. Tap one to see its meaning.
Grade 2小2 · 5
通
traffic, pass through近
near, early道
road-way, street週
week遠
distant, far
Grade 3小3 · 7
進
advance, proceed運
carry, luck送
escort, send追
chase, drive away速
quick, fast返
return, answer遊
play
Grade 4小4 · 4
連
take along, lead選
elect, select辺
environs, boundary達
accomplished, reach
Grade 5小5 · 6
過
overdo, exceed述
mention, state造
create, make適
suitable, occasional逆
inverted, reverse迷
astray, be perplexed
Grade 6小6 · 2
退
retreat, withdraw遺
bequeath, leave behind
Family: kanji whose classical radical in KANJIDIC2 is 辵 (no. 162). KANJIDIC2 © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.