Pictophonetic Characters (形声字) — Part 2

Part 2 covers three more high-frequency semantic radicals: the speech radical (讠), the heart/mind radical (忄), and the person radical (亻). Together these three radicals appear in some of the most common characters in the language.

In Part 1 we saw how the water, tree, and fire radicals create families of related characters. Part 2 covers three more radical families that are especially useful for learners — these characters come up constantly in everyday Mandarin conversation.

讠

Speech radical (言字旁 yánzìpáng)

Simplified form of 言 (speech/words). All characters in this family relate to language, communication, and verbal acts.

Character	Pīnyīn	Meaning	Phonetic component	Sound match
说	shuō	speak / say	兑duì	Approximate
话	huà	speech / words	舌shé	Both end in -a/-ua
语	yǔ	language	吾wú	Similar vowel
请	qǐng	please / invite	青qīng	Very close — same initial
读	dú	read / study	卖mài	Historical shift — originally closer
谢	xiè	thank / decline	射shè	Approximate

忄

Heart/mind radical (竖心旁 shùxīnpáng)

Simplified form of 心 (heart). Appears on the left side for emotions and mental states. 心 itself appears at the bottom of some characters (想, 忘).

Character	Pīnyīn	Meaning	Phonetic component	Sound match
情	qíng	emotion / feeling	青qīng	Very close — same initial
想	xiǎng	think / miss	相xiāng	Same initial and final, tone differs
怕	pà	fear / be afraid	白bái	Similar — bilabial initial
忘	wàng	forget	亡wáng	Same initial and final, tone differs. Heart (心) at bottom, not left.
懂	dǒng	understand	董dǒng	Identical sound!

亻

Person radical (单人旁 dānyīnpáng)

Simplified form of 人 (person). Characters with this radical relate to people, human actions, social roles, and human attributes.

Character	Pīnyīn	Meaning	Phonetic component	Sound match
你	nǐ	you	尔ěr	Approximate
他	tā	he / him	也yě	Approximate
们	men	plural marker (我们, 你们)	门mén	Very close
做	zuò	do / make	故gù	Approximate

How to use this knowledge when reading

See an unfamiliar character. Identify the radical component (usually on the left or bottom).

Guess the meaning domain: 氵 = water, 讠 = speech, 忄 = emotion, 亻 = person-related.

Identify the remaining component (the phonetic part). If you know any character that looks like it, its pronunciation is your best guess for the new character.

Check your guess in context. You won't always be right — but you will narrow down the possibilities dramatically.

Continue: The Building Blocks — Radicals

Next: Chinese Radicals (部首) →← Pictophonetic Part 1 ← All Character Types