偏
へん
left-hand radical of a kanji; a leaning, bias
By Nihongo PathUpdated
Examples
この字の偏は「にんべん」です。
このじのへんは「にんべん」です。
The left-hand element of this character is the person radical.
漢字は偏と旁に分けられることが多い。
かんじはへんとつくりにわけられることがおおい。
Kanji can often be split into a left-hand and a right-hand element.
水に関する字には、さんずいの偏が付く。
みずにかんするじには、さんずいのへんがつく。
Characters to do with water carry the three-drops water radical on the left.
Common patterns
- 偏と旁
- the left and right halves of a kanji
- 手偏
- the hand radical
- にんべん
- the person radical
Memory tip
As a noun this is a kanji-dictionary term: the element on the LEFT of a character (the right-hand one is 旁, つくり). Do not mix it up with the same-sounding 変 'strange' — 偏 carries the person radical and the idea of leaning to one side, as in 偏る and 偏見.
Kanji in this word
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What does 偏 mean?