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:

长

Phonetic Root (声旁 / Sound Core)HSK 2

长 (cháng)

long

View Root Character Page Kangxi #168 (長) · View Radical

Family Characters

HSK Words

Tone Fan-out (长)

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

3 Active Tones

Tone 1zhāng

Tone 2cháng

Tone 4zhàng

Family Characters (9)

Root: 长

长

cháng

HSK 2

Phonetic Root (声旁 / Sound Core)

long

Open Deep Dive

张

zhāng

HSK 3

弓(bow)

to open up, spread, sheet of paper, classifier for flat objects

Open Deep Dive

账

zhàng

HSK 6

贝(shell)

account, bill, debt

Open Deep Dive

帐

zhàng

HSK 7

巾(cloth)

curtain, tent, canopy

Open Deep Dive

胀

zhàng

HSK 7

⺼(meat)

to swell

Open Deep Dive

伥

chāng

Expansion

亻(person)

(bound form) ghost of sb devoured by a tiger who helps the tiger devour others

Open Deep Dive

怅

chàng

Expansion

忄(heart)

regretful; upset; despairing; depressed

Open Deep Dive

枨

chéng

Expansion

木(tree)

door post

Open Deep Dive

苌

cháng

Expansion

艹(plants)

surname Chang; plant mentioned in Book of Songs, uncertainly identified as carambola or star fruit (Averrhoa carambola)

Open Deep Dive