← All 214 radical families
生
Radical 100 of 214 · 5 strokes

Life

shēng

Unicode uses 生 as a Kangxi radical category. Its reference meaning is life, living, lifetime; birth. The relationship to an individual character may be semantic, historical, or primarily classificatory.

3 course characters44 character–word links
Semantic role

When the formation data identifies 生 as semantic, the relevant character record states that role.

Phonetic role

Semantic–phonetic characters identify the component associated with historical pronunciation.

Radical classification

The primary dictionary radical is shown independently of any claim about modern meaning.

Character index

3 course characters

Expand a character to view its structure, formation analysis, and related HSK words.

Showing 3 characters.

生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth生 radicalHSK 10 extra strokesDetails
formation note

Formation: Pictograph of a sprout emerging from the ground.

Formation source · Dong Chinese Lexicon
Category radical
生 life
Visual structure
一 + 土
產chǎnto give birth, to bring forth, to produce生 radicalHSK 56 extra strokesDetails
semantic–phonetic

Formation: Phonosemantic compound. 生 represents the meaning and 彥 represents the sound.

  • 生Semantic componentbe born; life
  • 彥Phonetic componentaccomplished; elegant
Formation source · Dong Chinese Lexicon
Category radical
生 life
Visual structure
文 + 厂 + 生
甦sūreborn; to resuscitate, to revive生 radicalHSK 67 extra strokesDetails
compound formation

Compound formation: To grant an additional 更 life 生

Category radical
生 life
Visual structure
更 + 生
HSK words with 甦1 word in this course

Classification: Unicode 17.0 kRSUnicode. Structure: Make Me a Hanzi. Formation: Dong Chinese Lexicon where available, with a documented Make Me a Hanzi fallback. Method and licenses.