The Connections among Radicals, Integral Characters, and Compound Characters
Radicals are the orthographic units that compose compound characters. Once we have learned enough high frequency radicals, compound characters will no longer seem to be a collection of random strokes. Rather, we will recognize characters as meaningful combinations of radicals. For instance, after learning basic radicals, when we see the character 古 (ancient), we can tell that it is formed by two radicals, 十 and 口. The structural relationships among radicals, integral characters, and compound characters can be summarized as follows:
Radicals are integral characters: 水
Some radicals are derived from other radicals: 口→甘
Duplicated radicals can be combined to form compound characters: 木→林、森
Different radicals can be combined to form compound characters: 心 plus 田→思
Radicals can be combined with other integral characters that are not radicals to form a compound characters: 河
Knowing this, when we come across a new compound character we should analyze the structure of the new compound and identify: how many radicals there are in the compound, which radicals they are, and in which positions they are placed. By analyzing the character into meaningful chunks, we greatly reduce the burden on our working memory and make learning more effective.
