骨

Bone Radical (骨)

gǔ · 9 strokes

The bone radical (骨) is a less common radical in Chinese. It appears in 3 characters related to bone and associated concepts. 3 characters: 1 in HSK 6, 2 in HSK 7-9. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system. Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (CLEC 2022 syllabus).

Radical vs. Component: 骨 is also a character component. As a radical, it classifies characters in dictionaries. As a component, it appears as a building block contributing meaning, sound, or structure. For component-specific details including role analysis and position patterns, see the Bone Component (骨) page.

Bone Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count9
Total Characters3
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (2 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes15
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Bone Radical Characters

HSK 6 (1 characters)

骨gǔbone

HSK 7-9 (2 characters)

髓suǐ(bound form) bone marrow骼géused in 骨骼[gu3 ge2]

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the bone radical mean in Chinese characters?
The bone radical (骨) signals a semantic connection to bone-related concepts. When you see 骨 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves bone or associated ideas. It appears in 3 characters in the HSK character set. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system, the traditional standard for organizing Chinese characters.
How many characters use the bone radical?
There are 3 characters with the bone radical (骨) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 6, 2 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental bone-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common bone radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the bone radical (骨) are: 骨 (gǔ, "bone"), 髓 (suǐ, "(bound form) bone marrow"), 骼 (gé, "used in 骨骼[gu3 ge2]"). These high-frequency characters are among the first bone-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include bone radical characters?
Characters with the bone radical (骨) appear across 2 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 6, 2 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 2 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common bone-related characters, while advanced levels add specialized or literary terms.

Sources & Standards

Radical classifications on this page follow the Kangxi radical system (康熙部首), the standard set of 214 radicals codified in the Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, 1716). Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》), published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2022 revision.