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卜
Radical 25 of 214 · 3 strokes

Divination

bo

Unicode uses 卜 as a Kangxi radical category. Its reference meaning is fortune telling; prophesy. The relationship to an individual character may be semantic, historical, or primarily classificatory.

3 course characters8 character–word links
Semantic role

When the formation data identifies 卜 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.

卡kǎcard, punch card; calorie卜 radicalHSK 33 extra strokesDetails
semantic formation

Formation: Depicts being stuck between something above (上) and something below (下).

  • 上Semantic componentup
  • 下Semantic componentdown
Formation source · Dong Chinese Lexicon
Category radical
卜 divination
Visual structure
上 + 卜
占zhànto divine; to observe; to versify卜 radicalHSK 43 extra strokesDetails
semantic formation

Formation: In ancient China fortune-tellers made cracks (卜) and holes (口) in turtle shells for the purpose of divination.

  • 卜Semantic componentto divine
  • 口Semantic componentmouth
Formation source · Dong Chinese Lexicon
Category radical
卜 divination
Visual structure
⺊ + 口
卧wòto crouch; to lie down卜 radicalHSK 56 extra strokesDetails
simplified form

Formation: Simplified form of 臥. Origin unclear.

  • 臣Role unclearofficial; statesman
  • 卜Simplified formto divine
Formation source · Dong Chinese Lexicon
Category radical
卜 divination
Visual structure
臣 + 卜
Also indexed under
臣 minister
HSK words with 卧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.