てへん

てへん is the name of the kanji radical 扌(てへん), which is a stylized form of 手(て) ("hand") used as the left-side component of many kanji. It is one of the most productive radicals in Japanese: most kanji built with てへん denote actions performed with the hands.

Forms

• 手(て) ("hand") + ~へん (偏(へん), "left-side radical")
• The ん in てへん comes from the rendaku-flavored reading of 偏(へん).

COMMON KANJI WITH てへん:

• 打(う)つ: to hit
• 持(も)つ: to hold
• 押(お)す: to push
• 引(ひ)く: to pull (note: this kanji uses ゆみへん 弓(ゆみ) instead, so a useful contrast)
• 投(な)げる: to throw
• 振(ふ)る: to wave / shake
• 折(お)る: to fold / break
• 捨(す)てる: to throw away

Related radical terms

• 偏(へん): left-side radical (the position-name suffix used in てへん, さんずい, きへん, etc.)
• さんずい: "three drops of water" radical (氵(さんずい)), found in water-related kanji
• きへん: "tree" radical (木(き)), found in wood/tree-related kanji
• くさかんむり: "grass crown" radical (艹(くさかんむり)), found above the character
• 部首(ぶしゅ): kanji radical (the general term)

Usage

• てへん is often introduced very early in elementary-school kanji education as a memorable example of how radicals carry meaning. Teachers commonly say things like "てへんがあるから手(て)に関係(かんけい)がある" ("It has the hand radical, so it has something to do with the hand").
• The radical 扌(てへん) is never written as a standalone character; it appears only as the left-side element of other kanji.