The Lid Radical 亠 : Overview, Mnemonics, and Vocabulary

It’s great to have you guys back to the Pandanese blog series on radicals!

Radicals are the main components of a Chinese character (Hanzi). Therefore, learning radicals helps you broaden your Hanzi understanding and increase your Chinese vocabulary.

In this article, we’ll introduce you to the lid radical 亠, how to learn it with fun mnemonics, and a list of vocabulary associated with this radical. Continue reading for this useful information!

Table of Contents

What is the lid radical?

In Chinese, the lid radical is pronounced as “tóu” and written as 亠. This radical has two strokes and is listed as radical 8 according to the Kangxi radical chart (a system of radicals of Chinese characters). Also, according to the Kangxi dictionary, 38 characters (out of 49,030) contain the radical 亠 “tóu.”

Similar to other radicals such as 一 yī (one), 厂 hǎn (cliff), or 目 mù (eye), which illustrate the object one character describes, the lid radical 亠 also shows how the character and the object they describe are closely related. The lid radical hasn’t changed so much through time; let’s have a look at its historical form.

What is the stroke order of the lid radical?

The lid radical has two strokes, written in the following order:

How can you memorize the lid radical?

Though it’s not difficult to commit the lid radical 亠 to memory, there’s a learning technique that lets learners memorize this character with fun rather than learn it by heart – the mnemonics technique.

At Pandanese, we employ mnemonics flashcards to help Chinese learners like you get the most out of your learning. Your Chinese learning journey couldn’t get any easier! Or could it? Have a look at how mnemonics works in this example.

Can you create your mnemonics?

When it comes to using mnemonic devices to learn vocabulary, we recognize that a mnemonic may work well for one individual but not for another. In other words, everyone has their own individual logic behind their mnemonics. Let your voice be heard!

Pandanese can see that coming. Therefore, we’ve created the “Synonym Feature” that allows you to make your own mnemonics. It’s often easier to memorize a character or radical by creating your personalized mnemonics.

Check out the GIF below for a visual walkthrough of the Synonym Feature.

A lid radical vocabulary list for you!

Want to explore more about the lid radical? Here’s a list of some of the most essential Hanzi which contain the lid radical:

Character	Pinyin	English meaning
亮	liàng	bright, to reveal
亦	yì	also
亢	kàng	high, excessive
市	shì	city
夜	yè	night
校	xiào	school
高	gāo	tall
抗	kàng	to fight
卒	zú	at last
坑	kēng	hole, pit

Could learning Chinese be a breeze?

Learning Chinese shouldn’t be hard, rather it should be easy and full of joy! Ditch the textbook and rote learning method and instead try mnemonics; using mnemonics is proven to help learners digest new pieces of information more easily and more efficiently.

Pandanese is a web-based application exclusively designed to help Chinese-language learners memorize Chinese characters easier and more effectively. Pandanese uses scientifically proven memory-aid methods like mnemonics and Spaced Repetition System (SRS) to optimize your learning ability, helping you learn more than 6,000 hanzi and vocabulary within just a year.

If you’re interested in the Chinese language, especially Chinese radicals, we encourage you to check out our Pandanese blog and read as much as you like before starting your learning!

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