くさかんむり

くさかんむり is the name of the kanji radical 艹(くさかんむり), which is a stylized form of 草(くさ) ("grass") placed across the top of many kanji. Most kanji that carry くさかんむり have meanings tied to plants, herbs, flowers, or other vegetation, making it a useful clue for guessing meaning when learning new kanji.

Forms

• 草(くさ) ("grass") + ~かんむり (冠(かんむり), "top-of-character radical")

COMMON KANJI WITH くさかんむり:

• 花(はな): flower
• 草(くさ): grass
• 葉(は): leaf
• 茶(ちゃ): tea
• 薬(くすり): medicine (originally derived from medicinal herbs)
• 菜(さい): vegetable / greens
• 若(わか)い: young (originally a plant-shoot image)
• 苦(くる)しい: painful (using 古(こ) phonetic + 艹(くさかんむり))

Related words

• 冠(かんむり): top-of-character radical (the position name; also うかんむり 宀(うかんむり), あめかんむり 雨(あめ), etc.)
• てへん: "hand" left-side radical (扌(てへん))
• さんずい: "three drops of water" left-side radical (氵(さんずい))
• きへん: "tree" left-side radical (木(き))
• 部首(ぶしゅ): kanji radical (the general term)

Usage

• The shape of くさかんむり is now usually written with three strokes (艹(くさかんむり)) in modern textbooks, although older forms wrote it with four strokes (艸(くさかんむり) / ⺿). Both are recognized as the same radical.
• A common mnemonic for learners is to remember the meaning "plant" whenever they see くさかんむり on top of an unfamiliar kanji.