Chinese Radical: 火 - fire

The 火 (huǒ) radical means "fire". Here are some characters containing this radical. Their meaning is usually somehow related to "fire" or "heat".

灯笼 - dēng long - a lantern 
炒肉 - chǎo ròu - fried meat 
抽烟 - chōu yān - to smoke 
烤炉 - kǎo lú - an oven 
炎热 - yán rè - very hot 
秋天 - qiū tiān - autumn

Chinese "Hand" Radical

Here are some Chinese words with the "hand" (手) radical. All of them mean actions done with hands.

Chinese Etymology: 空 - empty

空 means "hollow" or "empty". It looks like tent opening (穴). There is nothing inside. Here 工 (gōng) is just a phonetic element.

Four "Fu" Characters In Chinese Language

1. 畐: a vase with some content. Means "to be full". 
2. 富: a full vase under the roof (inside the building) = "richness" 
3. 福: a full vase in the altar = "happiness" 
4. 副: something valuable (畐) is separated with a knife 刂 (刀). Means "secondary", "auxiliary", "subsidiary", "deputy".

Origin of 井

The ancient form of 井 is in the shape of the opening of a well with surrounding stone or wooden work for safety. 

The 3rd and 4th strokes of 井 go cross the 1st and the 2nd horizontal strokes. 

NOTE! Be aware of the difference between 井 and 开.

Examples: 
井水 – jǐng shuǐ – well water 
井底之蛙 – jǐng dǐ zhī wā – a frog living at the bottom of a well (idiom, depicting an ignorant person)

Radical 讠 ("Speech")

讠 is simplified from 言 and is often referred to as the "speech" radical. It is a meaning element related to "speaking". The pinyin is yán (yan2). As a radical, it appears on the left of the character. 

Chinese Characters containing 讠 radical 

861 characters can be found under this radical in Chinese Kangxi Dictionary. Here are some examples of Chinese characters containing 讠:

Radical 宀 ("Roof")

宀 is called 宝盖 (bǎo gài) in Chinese and is often referred to as the "roof" radical in English. It is a meaning element related to "house". The pinyin is mián (mian2). As a radical, it always appears on the top of the character. Here are some examples of Chinese characters containing 宀: 

Radical 饣 ("Eat", "Food")

饣 is used as a left Chinese radical. Its meaning is “food” or ”eat”. The productive phonetic is shí (shi2).

饣 is simplified from 食. The pictogram of the traditional form looks like an inverted mouth over a bowl of food (probably rice) on a stand. The current form is 人 + 良 but the lower part is more likely to be related to 皀 rather than to 艮. 

Here are the most commonly used characters containing 饣: 

The Origin of 册 and 典

Pictograph 册 looks like ancient Chinese books that were composed of bamboo strips and woven together into a scrole. 
The ancient written form of 典 is in the shape of a book kept on a table to be read (or, probably, a book held by two hands). 

词典 - cídiǎn - dictionary

虫 - chóng - worm - червь

The ancient written form of 虫 is in the shape of a worm with a small head, curved body and long tail.

Древняя форма написания 虫 имеет форму червя с маленькой головой, изогнутым телом и длинным хвостом.

山 (shān) - mountain - гора | 出 (chū) - out - наружу

Unlike the origin of 山, etymology of 出 is uncertain. However, 出 looks exactly like a mountain coming OUT of the top of another mountain. This may be helpful for remembering this character.

С происхождением иероглифа 出 не всё так прозрачно, как у 山. Но запомнить его значение проще, когда представляешь себе одну гору, выступающую НАРУЖУ из-за другой.

西 - west - запад

Different linguists have different opinions on the origin of 西.Some argue the etymology can be attributed to a basket or a wrapped package. That is why 西 appears as a part of the word 东西 - dōngxī - thing, object - вещь. However, there is another ("romantic") theory. Some linguists suppose that 西 looks like a nest, where birds return when the sun sets in the WEST.


По поводу происхождения иероглифа 西 лингвисты спорят. Одни видят сходство с корзиной и утверждают, что важнее "вещественная" составляющая: 西 является частью слова 东西 - dōngxī - вещь. Есть и более романтическая версия: ряду учёных 西 напоминает гнездо, куда птицы возвращаются на закате, когда на ЗАПАДЕ садится солнце...

存 - to save - сохранять

This visual association will help you to remember the character 存. 子 (a child) is under a shed (roof, umbrella, etc.) so he/she is "saved", "kept appropriately".

Иероглиф 存 легко запомнить. 子 (ребенок) как будто спрятан под крышей, зонтиком или навесом. Таким образом, он "сохраняется", "оберегается" от внешних воздействий.

手 - hand - рука

巾 - towel - полотенце

The character 巾 looks like a piece of cloth hanging off of a loom.

Иероглиф 巾 похож на кусок ткани, свисающий с ткацкого станка.

新 - new - новый

The etymology of the character 新 is not straightforward. Before building something NEW, first you have to chop down trees with an ax (斤).

Этимология иероглифа 新 не слишком очевидная. Чтобы построить что-то НОВОЕ, сначала нужно срубить деревья с помощью топора (斤).

果 - fruit - фрукт

止 - to stop, to stand - стоять, останавливаться

You use your foot to stop. Therefore, etymology of the character 止 (to stop, to stand) is related to a foot.

Чтобы остановиться, вы используете ногу (стопу), поэтому этимология иероглифа 止 (стоять, останавливаться) с ней так тесно связана.

羽 - feather - перо

至: Etymology | 至: Этимология

The character 至 derived from a picture of an upside down arrow stuck in the ground. The arrow REACHED the ground.

Иероглиф 至 происходит от картинки стрелы, вонзившейся в землю. Стрела ДОСТИГЛА земли.