Blunt Radical (艮) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
艮 is the blunt radical. It appears in 13 of the most common Chinese characters — these 12 are the ones worth learning first, and the worksheet below gives every one of them a pinyin header, a stroke-by-stroke model and blank Tianzige grids to copy into.
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What does 艮 mean?
Blunt radical · 艮 gèn · 6 strokes · blunt, stubborn; a mountain pass
It usually appears on the left or the right. The Origin column below shows what each character's parts do — many take their meaning from the radical, some take their sound from the other half.
Shapes: 艮
12 common characters with 艮
Ranked by how often they appear in real written Chinese. Every character links to its own page with a stroke-order animation and example words.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 很 | hěn | very | 艮 supplies the sound |
| 跟 | gēn | [indicating relationship, involvement, or comparison] with | 艮 supplies the sound |
| 眼 | yǎn | eye | 艮 supplies the sound |
| 根 | gēn | [measure word for long and slender objects] | 艮 supplies the sound |
| 银 | yín | silver | 艮 supplies the sound |
| 退 | tuì | move back, retreat; return, refund; withdraw; (of tide) recede | 艮 supplies the sound |
| 良 | liáng | good | |
| 限 | xiàn | limit, set a limit | 艮 supplies the sound |
| 艰 | jiān | difficult; hard; hardship | 堇 supplies the sound |
| 恨 | hèn | hate | 艮 supplies the sound |
| 狠 | hěn | ruthless; fierce; ferocious; determined; resolute; to harden (one's he… | 艮 supplies the sound |
| 痕 | hén | scar; traces | 艮 supplies the sound |
Related Radicals
- 纟Silk radical · sī49 common characters · silk; thread
- 耳Ear radical · ěr8 common characters · ear
- 舌Tongue radical · shé10 common characters · tongue
- 艹Grass radical · cǎo39 common characters · grass; plants
- 虫Insect radical · chóng9 common characters · insect, reptile
- 衤Clothes radical · yī20 common characters · clothes
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