valikor 50 Report post Posted November 4, 2010 Hi folks, What I'm looking for is this: A dictionary where I could enter a component, like 卒, and have it tell me characters containing this component, such as 醉,碎,翠,etc. I looked through all the dictionaries listed here as "the best", and yellowbridge seems to do it *if you pay*. (There's a link that says "See characters containing this as a component.." or something like that) Anywhere I can do this for free? I seem to remember using a dictionary a few months ago which allowed this, but now I can't find it! Thanks David Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daan 139 Report post Posted November 4, 2010 Wenlin can do this as well, but I don't think it's available free of charge. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ole 5 Report post Posted November 4, 2010 A dictionary where I could enter a component, like 卒, and have it tell me characters containing this component, such as 醉,碎,翠,etc. You can try it here. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
valikor 50 Report post Posted November 4, 2010 Thanks for your replies. It's probably not worth it to invest in Wenlin, but that last site posted by Ole looks pretty good. On some characters it seemed to work great: I looked up 曼 and it showed me: 曼镘慢 熳鳗谩 缦蔓馒 幔墁漫 And I looked up 品 and it returned 酃品癌榀操缲臊躁噪燥澡藻 It seems to have some problems identifying characters based on a small component, though. For example I searched 母 and it only displayed 5 characters which contain this (I noticed 繁 wasn't there). I tried looking up 敏 and it again did not show 繁. I guess it is missing the connections between some characters, but still a nice site. I'm happy to find it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jbradfor 681 Report post Posted November 4, 2010 A dictionary where I could enter a component, like 卒, and have it tell me characters containing this component, such as 醉,碎,翠,etc. Or this site. I use that one a lot. It does have a number of errors and omissions, basically being one person's work, but I find it very very useful none-the-less. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PanShiBo 14 Report post Posted November 6, 2010 This place can work for you, although the range is limited by HSK set. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu 3,171 Report post Posted November 6, 2010 It looks like zhongwen.com is the kind of thing you're looking for. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gato 919 Report post Posted November 6, 2010 Pleco for iOS can show you all characters that contains a certain character as a component, too. This function requires the Stroke Order Diagram add-on ($9.95). I think it probably works with the free version of Pleco, as well. In Pleco, highlight the character you want, tap "字". In 字 view, tap on "Chars" and "Containing", and it will show you all characters that contains the character you highlighted as a component. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fabiothebest 100 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 Maybe someone knows about this already but it's new to me. There is an easy way to find characters based on their components simply by using a IME, but not all IMEs have this functionality, for example the Microsoft and Apple ones don't. It seems Google Pinyin IME does this (now only the mobile app is available and an old version of the desktop app could be found somewhere online but it isn't supported by Google anymore) and Sogou IME (That's the one I personally tested and it works). Basically if you can spot some components in a new character and you don't know its pinyin, you can still find it without having to handwrite it or selecting its radicals in order. Simply type "u" followed by the pinyin of the components (order doesn't matter) and 1 or more characters containing those components will be displayed. For example take the character 安 and imagine you don't know its pinyin. If you can recognize that it's made of 宀 (mian2) and 女 (nv3), you simply type: umiannv and you get 安 and a few other characters containing those components. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rogerdunn 0 Report post Posted April 6, 2019 I patented this search method. If you Google Roger Dunn chinese character search patent. I didnt develop but open to those interested in developing. I had a database of 5000 characters broken up by its components and u could search them via sound stroke layout etc Email me if u like [email protected] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
889 1,751 Report post Posted April 7, 2019 That's interesting, but could you tell us what advantages your method has over Pleco or Wenlin when searching for characters that use a particular component. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luxi 822 Report post Posted April 7, 2019 [Out of topic post moved to another thread to avoid derailing this thread's discussion.] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
889 1,751 Report post Posted April 7, 2019 But we're talking about component searches here, not compound words. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luxi 822 Report post Posted April 7, 2019 Yes I know - but couldn't help getting carried away with this dictionary, sorry! I'd probably use Yellowbridge, Zhongwen.com and Richard Sears' etymology site for components. Or search in Baidu and see what happens. There's also this : http://www.guoxuedashi.com/zidian/bujian/ 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gharial 130 Report post Posted April 8, 2019 Old thread, and not sure if MDBG has always offered this, but it doesn't seem to have been mentioned: https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqchc=卒 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites