124. The "Feather" Radical: 羽
The "feather" radical 羽 has really taken wing! Although it's the on-duty radical in just six Joyo kanji, 羽 has migrated to four positions in those characters. Its Japanese name changes accordingly.
What Are the Positions and Names of the "Feather" Radical 羽?
This kanji doubles as the radical in question:
羽 (812: feather; wing; counter for birds or rabbits; "feather" radical)
The Joyo kun-yomi of 羽 is はね, so that's the origin of the name はね for the 羽 radical. Actually, we also see the origin of the English radical names here; people call 羽 both the "feather" radical and the "wing" radical.
We can continue to call the radical はね when it sinks to the bottom of a character or moves to the right side:
翁 (1037: elderly man; honorific title for a great man)
翻 (1826: to flutter; overturn; change representation)
However, when 羽 rises to the top, the radical name becomes はねかんむり (羽冠):
習 (307: to learn; custom)
翌 (988: next)
翼 (1885: wing)
Photo Credit: Eve Kushner
Why Are These Kanji Winged?
The 羽 character is the pictograph of a "bird's wings," so it's obvious why 羽 (812: feather; wing; counter for birds or rabbits; "feather" radical) means what it does (except perhaps for the rabbit part!). Similarly, it's not surprising that 翼 (1885) means "wing," given what's on top. But what about the other four kanji? Let's look at Henshall's etymologies:
習 (307: to learn; custom)
The etymology is somewhat obscure but because the bottom part phonetically expressed "repeat" in the past, the whole character once represented a "repeated (flapping of the) wings." This referred to a fledgling's learning to fly. Henshall doesn't say more about how 習 came to mean what it did, but both learning and customs involve a great deal of repetition. I love thinking that students and members of a culture figuratively keep flapping their wings until they learn something crucial!
翌 (988: next)
This character combines "wings" on top with "to stand, rise, leave" on the bottom. The 立 acts phonetically here to express "to fly" while lending the idea of "rise and leave." Originally, 翌 referred to a "bird flying off." The current meaning, "next," is borrowed, so the etymology is irrelevant, except that I anticipated that 羽 would appear in at least one kanji about taking wing, and 翌 used to mean that.
翁 (1037: elderly man; honorific title for a great man)
Henshall says in his newer edition that the radical may mean "feathers" here and that the 公 ("public, fair") may act phonetically to express "head, neck" in 翁. If all that is true, then 翁 represents “bird’s neck/head feathers.” One scholar who backs that view also notes that people have long used 翁 in place of two other characters meaning “old man” or something similar.
翻 (1826: to flutter; overturn; change representation)
The newer edition says that the 羽 means “wings, plumage” and that the 番 (turn, number; guard) acts phonetically to express one of two things. If it conveys “flap in a flat manner,” then 翻 represents “bird flaps wings and flies.” But if the phonetic implies “return,” as when a bird repeatedly returns its wings to the same point, then 翻 symbolizes “move wings up and down and fly.” By extension, says Henshall, the character means “turn, change.”
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that 羽 appears in an extremely common kanji in which it is a mere component:
曜 (216: day of the week)
This character combines 日 (sun) and 隹 (bird) with 羽 (wings), says Henshall, noting that these parts combine to mean "sun winging like a bird, giving the passing of a day."
Note that the 羽 shapes have turned into ヨ shapes in 曜. But they were originally 羽 and still are in the Chinese version of the character.
Photo Credit: Lutlam
Photo Credit: Eve Kushner