The Chinese Radical: 玄


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Meaning
mysterious    玄

Explanation This radical is easy to remember if you think of “magnet 磁” (cf. magnet, porcelain 磁 [cí]), where stones are hanging at strings (simplified to and fixed with a bracket ) behave mysteriously.

Used in these characters:
JLPT HSK 5
rate, ratio, frequency, to lead, usually
lǜ, shuài
From top: rotary disc , thread (cf. mysterious ), four small items , rotary disc
Two rotary turn threads into smaller items in a certain ratio.
JLPT HSK 6
to nourish, grow, increase, to suscite, taste

Left: water , right: now, here (2x mysterious (part of magnet: 磁, where a upper bracket holds threads with hanging stones that are mysterious)
Water is doubly mysterious: It nourishes and lets things grow.
JLPT HSK 6
compassionate, gentle, kind, humane

Top: now/here (2x mysterious [turning disc , var. of thread ] or variation of magnet 磁 [= the mysterious stone]), below: heart
Like a magnet is his heart: so compassionate.
JLPT HSK 6
to store up, to grow (eg. a beard)

Top: plant , bottom: livestock, breeding 畜 (The mysterious field is used to raise livestock [because it is not sufficiently fertile for grain crops]) [mysterious = = thread at which a mysterious magnet 磁 hangs]
Plants for raising livestock have to be grown & stored.
JLPT HSK 6
livestock, domestic animal, to raise (animals)
chù, xù
Top: mysterious, occult (part of magnet: 磁, where a upper bracket holds threads with hanging stones that are mysterious), bottom: field
(It is not suffciently fertile for grain-crops:) The mysterious field is used for livestock.
JLPT HSK 6
chord, string (of bow / musical instrument), hypotenuse
xián
Left: bow , right: mysterious (part of magnet: 磁, where a upper bracket holds threads with hanging stones that are mysterious)
(As it withstood high forces, the bowstring was high-tech) The bow has a mysterious string.
JLPT HSK 6
to boast, to show off, to dazzle
xuàn
Left: fire , right: mysterious (part of magnet: 磁, where a upper bracket holds threads with hanging stones that are mysterious.)
Like a fire that is mysterious is: sb. who is boasting.
JLPT no HSK
dazzling, brilliant, dazzled, dizzy
xuàn
Left: eye , right: mysterious (part of magnet: 磁, where a upper bracket holds threads with hanging stones that are mysterious)
In the eyes it is mysterious: It is dazzling.
JLPT no HSK
now, here, this, time

(2x mysterious (part of magnet: 磁, where a upper bracket holds threads with hanging stones that are mysterious)
Like a magnet without a stone, such mysterious is: this now and here.
JLPT no HSK
mysterious, black
xuán
Part of magnet: 磁, where a upper bracket holds threads with hanging stones that are mysterious (cf. threads 纟/)
The thread hanging from a bracket is mysterious.
JLPT no HSK
side of a ship or an aircraft
xián
Left: boat , right: mysterious, occult (part of magnet: 磁, where a upper bracket holds threads with hanging stones that are mysterious.)
The ship has mysterious sides.
JLPT no HSK
cramp, spasm, convulsion, twitch
chù
Left: hand , right: mysterious (part of magnet: 磁, where a upper bracket holds threads with hanging stones that are mysterious) and field
When the hand contracts mysteriously to a fist , it is: a cramp.

Radicals are shown here that are similar either in appearance or meaning.

At the page you get the memory phrases for learning the Chinese Hanzi. If you are learning the Japanese kanji, please follow this link.



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