120. The "Thread" Radical: 糸
The "thread" radical 糸 has wound up in a staggering number of Joyo kanji. It's on duty in 63 of them, including this autonomous kanji:
糸 (27: thread)
Clearly, the radical name in English comes from the meaning of that kanji. Nelson indicates that people also refer to 糸 as the "silk" radical, but we won't.
He mentions, too, that people have nicknamed 糸 the "long thread" radical to distinguish it from this one:
幺 (radical 52: "short thread")
But we'll use "thread" for the 糸 radical.
By the way, 糸 has twice as many strokes as its "rival"—six versus three.
The image on the left shows 糸 (27: thread) as a seal-script character, and the other two reflect how it looked as a bronze character. The shape originally depicted a "skein of yarn," says Henshall, who is the source of all etymological information in this Radical Note.
Japanese Names and Positions of the "Thread" Kanji
When the on-duty 糸 radical appears in a kanji, it's almost always on the left, as is true in these cases:
絵 (89: picture)
細 (284: slender)
終 (306: end)
We can refer to that left-side radical as いとへん (糸偏).
If the radical is somewhere else in the character, the term いと will do. That's the Joyo kun-yomi of the 糸 kanji.
Here are some characters in which the 糸 radical is not on the left:
素 (737: element)
系 (844: system)
緊 (1179: to tighten)
繭 (1223: cocoon)
累 (1917: accumulation)
In all cases, 糸 is at the bottom, except in 繭 (1223), where it's tucked inside the left "windowpane" (which is my take on that shape).
Photo Credit: Kevin Lew
The "Thread" Radical in Kanji for Handicrafts
It's not at all surprising to find the "thread" radical in kanji representing handicrafts such as weaving, knitting, sewing, and spinning:
織 (720: to weave)
編 (785: to knit)
縫 (1804: to sew)
紡 (1814: to spin)
It is perhaps more unexpected that 編 (785: to knit, braid; edit, compile; organize; volume, literary work) primarily means "to knit"; I most often see it as "edition," as in 新編 (しんぺん: new edition). Henshall gives a detailed explanation of how one character came to represent both meanings. The short story is that the components of 編 combine to mean "to bind together in ordered arrangement using threads," branching off into two definitions—namely "to knit" and "edit, compilation."
Photo Credits: Eve Kushner
Good Stories
Who doesn't love a good story, particularly a good etymology?! I really like Henshall's explanations of how the following characters acquired their meanings:
紙 (132: paper)
The radical means "silk thread" in this case, and the 氏 (originally "ladle") acts phonetically here to express "smooth." This character originally represented "smooth silk" and by extension "smooth cloth." People once used cloth as a writing material, so this character came to mean "writing material" and therefore "paper."
線 (329: line)
The radical means "thread," and the 泉 (usually "source, spring") phonetically expresses "slender." Eventually, "slender thread" became "line." One sees this kanji in train stations and at the end of 新幹線 (しんかんせん: Shinkansen). That's quite a long journey for a slender thread!
紹 (1400: introduction)
The "thread" radical combines with 召 (to summon, partake). The right-hand side acts semantically and phonetically to express "to join," so 紹 originally meant "to join threads." People then began using it to mean "to bring two things together," which can extend to "introduce." At least, that's one theory that Henshall proposes in his newer edition.
Photo Credit: Kayoko Kurimoto
Gathering and Tightening Threads
Like 紹, several kanji with 糸 have etymologies that involve gathering or joining threads. Here's an example of what I mean:
続 (536: to continue; sequel, successive)
This kanji combines "thread" with "to sell," though the 売 here (originally 賣) phonetically expresses "to join" and "equivalence." If you "join threads of equal length," that yields "continuity" and "succession."
For many other kanji in the 糸 group, the etymology has to do with tightening and loosening cords and cables. Here's another example:
約 (591: approximately; promise, treaty; to contract; summarize; economize)
As with 紙, we have "thread" + "ladle"! In this case, the 勺 phonetically expresses "to tie tightly." Thus, 約 meant "to tie threads tightly (into a knot)." Figuratively, this came to be applied to "binding agreements" and "to tighten up" (that is, to remove inessential elements), which is to say "to summarize" and then "approximation."
Photo Credit: Eve Kushner
Photo Credit: Anne Hill
Colors
Our radical appears in kanji representing four colors! I'm talking about these:
緑 (412: green)
紅 (862: crimson, red)
紺 (1279: dark blue)
紫 (1320: purple)
Photo Credit: Eve Kushner