When the formation data identifies 甘 as semantic, the relevant character record states that role.
← All 214 radical families
Semantic role Phonetic role Radical classification
甘
Radical 99 of 214 · 5 strokes
Sweet
gān
Unicode uses 甘 as a Kangxi radical category. Its reference meaning is sweetness; sweet, tasty. The relationship to an individual character may be semantic, historical, or primarily classificatory.
3 course characters4 character–word links
Semantic–phonetic characters identify the component associated with historical pronunciation.
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.
甜tiánsweet, sweetnessDetails+
semantic formation
Formation: Depicts the tongue (舌) tasting something sweet (甘).
- 舌Semantic componenttongue
- 甘Semantic componentsweet
- Category radical
- 甘 sweet
- Visual structure
- 舌 + 甘
HSK words with 甜1 word in this course
甚shénconsiderably; very, extremely; a great extentDetails+
formation note
Formation: Origin unclear.
- 甘Role unclearsweet
- ◎Role unclearcharacterless component
- Category radical
- 甘 sweet
- Visual structure
- 甘 + 匹
HSK words with 甚1 word in this course
甘gānsweet, tasty; willingDetails+
pictographic formation
Formation: Pictograph of something sweet inside the mouth (口).
- 口Pictographic componentmouth
- ◎Pictographic componentcharacterless component
- Category radical
- 甘 sweet
- Visual structure
- 卄 + 二
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.