Phonetic Families & Components

Sound Roots & Semantic Radicals Explorer

Decode Chinese characters by their shared sound roots and see how semantic radicals split their meanings across tones.

Popular Roots:

此

Phonetic Root (声旁 / Sound Core)HSK 3

此 (cǐ)

this; these

View Root Character Page

Family Characters

HSK Words

Tone Fan-out (此)

How this root's pronunciation drifts across the Mandarin tone spectrum:

5 Active Tones

Tone 1xiē

Tone 2chái

Tone 3cǐ

Tone 4zì

Tone 5

Family Characters (18)

Root: 此

此

cǐ

HSK 3

Phonetic Root (声旁 / Sound Core)

this; these

Open Deep Dive

些

xiē

HSK 1

二(two)

some, a few

Open Deep Dive

柴

chái

HSK 5

木(tree)

Firewood, lean, thin, or surname Chai

Open Deep Dive

紫

zǐ

HSK 5

糸(silk)

purple

Open Deep Dive

雌

cí

HSK 6

隹(short-tailed bird)

female

Open Deep Dive

呲

cī

Expansion

口(mouth)

(coll.) to scold; to rebuke

Open Deep Dive

疵

cī

Expansion

疒(sickness)

blemish; flaw

Open Deep Dive

眥

Expansion

目(eye)

—

Open Deep Dive

眦

zì

Expansion

目(eye)

(anatomy) corner of the eye; canthus

Open Deep Dive

砦

Expansion

石(stone)

—

Open Deep Dive

茈

cí

Expansion

艹(plants)

used in 鳧茈|凫茈[fu2 ci2]

Open Deep Dive

觜

zī

Expansion

角(horn)

number 20 of the 28 constellations 二十八宿, approx. Orion 獵戶座|猎户座

Open Deep Dive

訾

zī

Expansion

言(speech)

surname Zi; to calculate

Open Deep Dive

貲

Expansion

貝(shell)

—

Open Deep Dive

赀

zī

Expansion

贝(shell)

to estimate; to fine (archaic)

Open Deep Dive

髭

zī

Expansion

髟(long hair)

mustache

Open Deep Dive

齜

Expansion

齒(tooth)

—

Open Deep Dive

龇

zī

Expansion

齿(tooth)

projecting teeth; to bare one's teeth

Open Deep Dive