偏(へん)

へん
noun
left-side component of a kanji; radical
1. left-side component of a kanji character
The structural component that appears on the left side of a kanji character. One of the major categories of kanji components used to classify and look up characters in dictionaries.
この漢字(かんじ)の偏(へん)は何(なん)ですか。
What is the left-side radical of this kanji?
「語(ご)」の偏(へん)は言偏(ごんべん)だ。
The left-side component of the kanji for 'word' is the speech radical.
偏(へん)と旁(つくり)を組(く)み合(あ)わせると一(ひと)つの漢字(かんじ)になる。
When you combine a left component and a right component, you get a single kanji.

A term used in kanji study to refer to the left-side structural component of a character. In the traditional classification system, kanji components are categorized by their position within the character.

KANJI COMPONENT POSITIONS:

  • 偏(へん): left side (e.g., the 氵(さんずい) in 海(うみ))
  • 旁(つくり): right side (e.g., the 刂(りっとう) in 割(わ)る)
  • 冠(かんむり): top (e.g., the 宀(うかんむり) in 家(いえ))
  • 脚(あし): bottom (e.g., the 灬(れんが) in 点(てん))
  • 構(かまえ): enclosure (e.g., the 門(もんがまえ) in 間(あいだ))
  • 垂(たれ): top-left wrap (e.g., the 广(まだれ) in 店(みせ))
  • 繞(にょう): bottom-left wrap (e.g., the 辶(しんにょう) in 道(みち))

COMMON RADICALS CALLED 偏(へん):

  • 人偏(にんべん): person
  • 言偏(ごんべん): speech
  • 手偏(てへん): hand
  • 木偏(きへん): tree
  • 水偏(さんずい): water
  • 金偏(かねへん): metal

NOTE ON HOMOPHONES:
Not to be confused with 変(へん) (strange) or 辺(へん) (area, vicinity), which have the same reading but completely different meanings.

Related Words

Related: つくり
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Added 2026.5.3 20:10
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