汉语之路Spoken Mandarin → 现代汉语语法

课程 → Level 8 · 汉字与语音 → 课 8

Level 8 · Lesson 8

部首和查字典
Radicals and dictionary lookup

字典按部首给汉字排队；会认部件、会数笔画，就能查到任何一个字。

Dictionaries file characters by radical — know the components, count the strokes, and no character is out of reach.

你已经会了 · You already know this

你会写 日、月、山、木、人、口，也会写 明、休、林、河、想、铜。第一组拆不开了，第二组一眼就能拆成两块。这一级的每一课其实都在拆字：会意字拆成两个意思，形声字拆成形旁和声旁。字典做的是同一件事——它从每个字里挑出一个部件，用它把成千上万个字分成两百来堆。

You can write both kinds already: 日 月 山 木 人 口, which come apart no further, and 明 休 林 河 想 铜, which visibly split in two. Every lesson of this level has been pulling characters apart. A dictionary does the same thing for a living — it picks one component out of each character and uses it as the filing label.

规则 · The rules

汉字分两类：不能再拆的是独体字，由两个或两个以上部件合成的是合体字。
规则 1
独体字：日、月、山、木、人、口、水、火。合体字：明、休、河、想、铜。
独体字 are mostly the old pictographs and indicatives; 合体字 are everything built out of them. The great majority of characters are 合体字, and almost all of those are 形声.

部件 是拆出来的那些块，不管它管意思还是管读音。所以 铜 有两个部件：钅 和 同。独体字只有一个部件，就是它自己。这两个词一定要分清楚：部件 是拆字用的，部首 是查字典用的。

A 部件 is simply a block you get by taking a character apart, whether it carries meaning or sound. 铜 has two of them, 钅 and 同; a 独体字 has one, itself. Keep the two words apart in your head: 部件 is for analysis, 部首 is for filing.

部首是字典给汉字分类用的部件。《说文解字》分五百四十部，《康熙字典》定为二百一十四部，现代字典只用两百个左右。
规则 2
许慎的五百四十部是按意思分的，现代的部首表是按写法分的。
Xu Shen invented the idea in 121 CE with 540 headings; the Kangxi dictionary of 1716 settled on 214; today's tables run to about two hundred. The number shrank because modern tables sort by written shape rather than by meaning.

形声字的部首多半就是形旁：河 在三点水部，铜 在金字旁部，请 在言字旁部。可是部首是个编排上的决定，不是分析——问 的意思跟 口 有关，门 只表示读音，字典却把它放在门部。所以第一次没找到，别慌，换另一个部件再找一次。

For most 形声 characters the meaning part doubles as the filing label, which makes lookup easy. But 部首 is an editorial decision, not an analysis: 问 has its sense from 口 and its sound from 门, yet dictionaries file it under 门. When your first guess misses, simply try the other component.

部首检字法有三步：先在部首目录里按笔画找到部首，再数除去部首以外的笔画，最后在检字表里找到页码。
规则 3
河：部首 氵，三画；除去部首还有五画（可）。
Two counts, always in this order: the strokes of the radical, then the strokes of everything left over. 河 is three plus five.

这里全靠笔画数得准，所以下一课的笔顺规则不是写字的规矩，是查字典的工具。数的时候记住：一笔写完中间不抬笔就算一画，横折是一画，不是两画。数错一画，你就在旁边那一栏里找一辈子。

Everything here rests on counting strokes correctly, which is why the stroke-order rules in the next lesson are a lookup tool and not a matter of neatness. One stroke is one movement of the pen without lifting it: 横折 counts as one, not two. Miscount by a single stroke and you will search the neighbouring column for ever.

知道读音就用音序索引，不知道读音就用部首索引——这是查字典的两条路。
规则 4
音序索引按拼音排，部首索引按部首和笔画排。
Every modern dictionary carries both. If you heard the word, the pinyin index is faster; if you only saw it on a page, the radical index is the only way in.

听见的字用音序，看见的字用部首——这句话记住就够了。会用部首索引，你就不用再问别人「这个字念什么」；一本字典在手，认识的字自己会变多。

Heard it, use pinyin; saw it, use the radical. That one line is the whole decision. Getting fluent with the radical index is what ends your dependence on asking someone else — with a dictionary in hand, your stock of characters grows on its own.

一步一步 · Step by step

查「铜」字
  1. 铜 — a character you have seen but cannot read
  2. 钅 — step 1 — pick out the radical
  3. 钅：五画 — step 2 — count its strokes, find 金部 in the radical list
  4. 同：六画 — step 3 — count the strokes that are left
  5. 金部・六画・铜 — step 4 — read off the page number and turn to it
两条路，一个字
  1. 听见了 tóng — reading known → pinyin index, look under t for tong
  2. 看见了 铜 — reading unknown → radical index, start from 钅
  3. 铜 tóng — two roads, one page

练习 · Practice

《说文解字》一共分多少部？ How many radical headings does the Shuowen Jiezi use?
看见一个字，不知道怎么念，应该用哪种索引？ You have seen a character but cannot pronounce it. Which index do you use?
查「河」字，部首是 ______，除去部首还有五画。 Name the radical of 河.
把术语和说明配起来。 Match each term to its description.