115. The "Grain" Radical: 禾

According to Kanjigen, the autonomous non-Joyo kanji 禾 (カ, いね) means "millet," "rice" or "grains in general." But when 禾 is a radical, we'll call it the "grain" radical.

This shape can still mean "rice" or "rice plant," as it clearly does in this kanji:

稲 (1656: rice plant; lightning)

However, 禾 can't be considered the "rice" radical because that name is reserved for another:

radical 119: 米, the "rice" radical

In English, the 禾 radical actually has a second name, which is "two-branched tree." More on that in a moment.

The Japanese Name for This Radical

The Japanese refer to the 禾 radical as のぎ. When it's on the left side of a kanji, as it almost always is, のぎへん is even better.

As to what のぎ means, it's simply の (from the katakana ノ) plus ぎ (a voiced reading of 木, き, "tree"). That is, someone perceived the top "branch" of 禾 as resembling the katakana ノ. So there's a piece of katakana dangling from the treetop!

Distinguishing 禾 from Other Radicals

Although I've opted to call 禾 the "grain" radical, the alternate term "two-branched tree" offers one benefit. It enables us to establish a clear relationship between our radical and two others:

radical 75: 木, the "tree" radical
radical 115: 禾, the "grain" or "two-branched tree" radical
radical 127: 耒, the "plow" or "three-branched tree" radical

The pattern should be clear, though I don't see 木 as having just one branch.

As long as we're drawing lines in the sand (or in the trees!), here's one more radical to differentiate from 禾:

radical 186: 香, the "perfume" radical

It's easy to think that a radical is an indivisible unit, but we can split this particular atom. When we do, we find grain. That is, according to Henshall, the 禾 in 香 (1255: fragrance, sweet smell; incense; perfume) actually means “rice plant” or “grain plant.” Meanwhile, the 日 in 香 is a simplification of 甘 (1093: sweet; fragrant; tempting; indulgent). Originally, these combined to mean “aromatic millet.” Eventually, 香 came to mean “fragrance” and “incense.”

Position and Shape of the Radical

Let's return to 禾. Within the Joyo set, I can find just one instance in which this five-stroke radical is not on the left side of the character:

秀 (1355: excellent; superior)

This is also the only time I've seen the shape of the radical change a little. The radical widens to fill the space above the 乃.

In two more characters the 禾 is off to the left but isn't alone there:

穀 (866: cereal, grain)
愁 (1357: melancholy)

Mostly, though, this radical takes up the entire left side, as in these examples, which are probably some of the first kanji you learned:

科 (81: subject of study; department, course)
私 (876: private, personal; I, me)

Where's the Rice?

It's a bit strange to think that there's rice in either 科 or 私, which couldn't be farther from a rice paddy in meaning.

Henshall says that in the case of 科, we have 禾 (rice) + 斗 (measure), giving us "to measure grain." This came to mean "sift or sort," then "category," and later "section," expanding even to "course."

As for 私, it breaks down as 禾 (rice) + ム (self), yielding "to give one's own rice." This extended to "private; personal; things pertaining to the self."

In a few other kanji with the on-duty 禾 radical, the character has a financial meaning. That's because rice is big business in Japan (and China). I'm referring, for example, to this kanji, which we saw in a photo: