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偏旁 (piān páng) — component of a Chinese character (such as the radical or the phonetic part)

Definition

A technical term for a structural component of a Chinese character — the radical (carrying meaning) or the phonetic part (carrying sound). The 旁 in 一旁 means 'side' as in 'beside', not a character component.

noun
component of a Chinese character (such as the radical or the phonetic part)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 偏旁？
    Zhè ge zì de zuǒ biān shì shén me piān páng?
    What is the component on the left side of this character?
  • 偏旁？
    Zhè ge piān páng biǎo shì yì si hái shì shēng yīn?
    Does this component represent meaning or sound?
  • 偏旁。
    Jì zhù bú rèn shi de zì de piān páng kě yǐ bāng zhù nǐ chá zì diǎn.
    Remembering the components of characters you don't know can help you look them up in a dictionary.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

偏piānside
旁pángside

偏 and 旁 both point to a side or component, so 偏旁 names the parts of a Chinese character.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
扁
扁biǎn偏piān
Same sound today

偏 combines 亻 (人, a person) with 扁, which gives the sound.

Open 偏 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
同同tóng
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng旁páng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 旁, 方 is the lower part and gives the sound. The upper part is unclear and may have been part of the meaning.

Open 旁 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.