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:

真

Phonetic Root (声旁 / Sound Core)HSK 1

真 (zhēn)

really, truly, genuine

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Family Characters

HSK Words

Tone Fan-out (真)

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

5 Active Tones

Tone 1zhēn

Tone 2tián

Tone 3zhěn

Tone 4zhèn

Tone 5

Family Characters (15)

Root: 真

真

zhēn

HSK 1

Phonetic Root (声旁 / Sound Core)

really, truly, genuine

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填

tián

HSK 4

土(earth)

to fill or stuff

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镇

zhèn

HSK 6

钅(metal)

town / to suppress / to cool

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慎

shèn

HSK 7

忄(heart)

careful; cautious

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颠

diān

HSK 7

页(head)

top of the head, apex, to fall forwards, inverted, to jolt

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嗔

chēn

Expansion

口(mouth)

to be angry at; to be displeased and annoyed

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滇

diān

Expansion

氵(water)

abbr. for Yunnan Province 雲南|云南[Yun2 nan2] in southwest China

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瑱

tiàn

Expansion

王(jade)

(literary) jade pendants attached to an official hat and hanging beside each ear, symbolizing refusal to listen to malicious talk; (literary) to fill up

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瞋

chēn

Expansion

目(eye)

(literary) to stare angrily; to glare

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禛

zhēn

Expansion

礻(spirit)

to receive blessings in a sincere spirit

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稹

zhěn

Expansion

禾(grain)

to accumulate; fine and close

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缜

zhěn

Expansion

纟(silk)

fine and dense

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鎮

Expansion

釒(metal)

—

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顛

Expansion

頁(head)

—

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鬒

zhěn

Expansion

髟(long hair)

bushy black hair

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