135. The "Tongue" Radical: 舌
Though one sees tongues everywhere—in humans, in dogs and cats, and even in sneakers—the "tongue" radical 舌 is on duty in just one Joyo kanji:
舌 (732: tongue; words)
This six-stroke radical, which has no variant shapes, takes the English name "tongue" from the main definition of this kanji. Similarly, the Japanese radical name した matches the Joyo kun-yomi of this character.
The name したへん works when the on-duty 舌 radical is on the left side, but that's never the case in a Joyo kanji, only in a non-Joyo character such as 舐 (lick).
Although 舌 occupies the left side of the following characters, the right-hand component is on duty:
辞 (500: to resign; decline; leave; word)
乱 (989: confusion; disturbance; random; reckless)
I wondered (strangely, for the first time) whether a Japanese person would still refer to the 舌 in 辞 and 乱 as したへん, even though 舌 isn't on duty. And I learned that indeed, laypeople would likely do so, though that's technically incorrect.
Photo Credit: Eve Kushner
The Meaning of 舌
Henshall provides these etymological interpretations of 舌 in his newer edition:
• One expert sees the 口 as "mouth" and the 干 (originally "forked weapon," now "dry") as phonetically conveying "include. " If so, 舌 meant "contained in mouth," which is to say "tongue."
• Another researcher sees early forms of 舌 as combining 口 (mouth) with another component representing the "tongue" itself. Accompanying strokes may have depicted "saliva." Ick!