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Lesson 47 — Characters 674–684: 差 養 善 様 植 極 端 需 器 品 商 Companion to Workbook. The workbook handles articles, vocabulary, study aids, and self-test. This file is the structural deep-dive — radicals, functional components (meaning/sound/form), stroke order, and shared-component patterns. Use it when you want to understand why a kanji is built the way it is, or to drill stroke order.

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Quick Reference

#	Kanji	Stroke Order	Strokes	Radical	Links
674	差		10	工 (work)	Jisho · AnimCJK
675	養		15	食 (food)	Jisho · AnimCJK
676	善		12	口 (mouth)	Jisho · AnimCJK
677	様		14	木 (tree)	Jisho · AnimCJK
678	植		12	木 (tree)	Jisho · AnimCJK
679	極		12	木 (tree)	Jisho · AnimCJK
680	端		14	立 (stand)	Jisho · AnimCJK
681	需		14	雨 (rain)	Jisho · AnimCJK
682	器		15	口 (mouth)	Jisho · AnimCJK
683	品		9	口 (mouth)	Jisho · AnimCJK
684	商		11	口 (mouth)	Jisho · AnimCJK

PNGs are generated from KanjiVG using kanjivg-to-png, so each image shows the character being built stroke by stroke in panels. AnimCJK links open animated versions in a browser.

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Per-Kanji Entries

674 — 差 (difference, distinction) — 10 strokes

Radical: 工 (たくみ — "work, skill") · no specific position · 10 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonosemantic)

• 尞 (form / semantic): relates to bundled items (charcoal sheaves), hence "unevenness, difference"
• 𠂇 (sound, archaic): /*TSAI/ → 差【サ】 — original sound component corrupted to resemble 左 in modern form. No useful modern phonetic series.
• ⚠️ The top part looks like 羊 but is historically unrelated to the 羊 in 養/様/善.

Stroke order

• Structure: top 羊-derived component (ソ + three horizontals) → bottom ⼯-derived component with left sweep
• Watch: top starts with two short diagonal strokes (ノ then ＼), then three horizontals top-to-bottom, before the lower half. Don't start with the horizontals.
• Common error: confusing stroke order with 着 (similar top, different lower structure).

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675 — 養 (nurture, foster, support) — 15 strokes

Radical: 食 (しょく — "food, eat") · the radical IS the semantic component · 15 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonosemantic)

• 食 (semantic): food, nourishment — to feed, rear, nurture
• 羊 (sound): 羊【ヨウ】→ 養【ヨウ】 ✓
• The phonetic series 羊 → 養・様 is the lesson's cleanest 形声 pattern.

Stroke order

• Structure: top 羊 (8 strokes — ソ + three horizontals + central vertical extending down) → bottom 食 (7 strokes)
• Watch: complete the entire 羊-like top (including its central vertical) before starting 食 below. The 食 bottom uses the standard food-radical stroke order.
• Common error: writing 食 with wrong stroke count — the bottom-left should be two separate strokes (ノ + dot), not one sweep.

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676 — 善 (good, virtue, goodness) — 12 strokes

Radical: 口 (くち — "mouth") · no specific position · 12 strokes total

Components & function — 会意 (compound ideograph)

• 羊 (meaning): auspicious / good
• 誩 (meaning, simplified to 口口-like bottom + 一): "many mouths praising"
• → "goodness" emerges from "auspicious + many voices"
• ⚠️ Radical is 口, but the semantic weight is 羊 (auspiciousness). 口 is just the dictionary filing radical.

Stroke order

• Structure: top 羊 variant (ソ + three horizontals) → middle 一 → bottom 口
• Watch: similar top to 差 and 養 — the 羊 variant starts with two short diagonals. The bottom 口 is written last.
• Common error: getting the middle section wrong — there's a single long horizontal before the bottom 口.

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677 — 様 (manner, appearance, Mr/Ms) — 14 strokes

Radical: 木 (きへん — "tree, wood") · へん (left) · 14 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonosemantic)

• 木 (semantic): tree / wood — originally a type of oak tree, later generalized to "manner, style"
• 羊 (sound): 羊【ヨウ】→ 様【ヨウ】 ✓
• 氺 (form, water-like bottom-right): structural decoration
• The radical 木 IS the semantic component.

Stroke order

• Structure: left 木 (4 strokes) → right 羊 top + 水-like bottom (10 strokes)
• Watch: left 木 first (horizontal, vertical, left sweep, right dot — the final right becomes a dot/short stroke when 木 is in きへん position). Then the right side: 羊-like top, then the 水-like bottom with central vertical extending down.
• Common error: the right-side bottom is 永-like, not 水 exactly — check the small strokes carefully.

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678 — 植 (plant, grow) — 12 strokes

Radical: 木 (きへん — "tree, wood") · へん (left) · 12 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonosemantic)

• 木 (semantic): tree, plant
• 直 (sound): 直【チョク】→ 植【ショク】 (initial consonant shift チ→ショ, regular historical correspondence)
• The radical 木 IS the semantic component.

Stroke order

• Structure: left 木 (4 strokes) → right 直 (8 strokes)
• Watch: 木 left side first (same as 様, 極). Then 直: top 十, then the 目-like box (horizontal, vertical, inner horizontal, bottom horizontal closing the rectangle), then bottom horizontal.
• Common error: miscounting strokes in 直 — the inner horizontal of the box is a separate stroke.

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679 — 極 (extreme, pole, utmost) — 12 strokes

Radical: 木 (きへん — "tree, wood") · へん (left) · 12 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonosemantic)

• 木 (semantic): wood — originally "ridgepole" (棟木, the highest beam in a house) → "extreme, utmost"
• 亟 (sound): 亟【キョク】→ 極【キョク】 ✓
• The radical 木 IS the semantic component.

Stroke order

• Structure: left 木 (4 strokes) → right side (8 strokes: 口 + overhead + 又-like bottom)
• Watch: three 木-radical kanji in a row (様/植/極) — left side identical for all three. The right side has a complex structure: don't skip the small horizontal above 口.
• Common error: the right side is NOT 亟 written as a simple block — it has a specific top-to-bottom order with the enclosure elements.

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680 — 端 (edge, end, fraction) — 14 strokes

Radical: 立 (たつへん — "to stand") · へん (left) · 14 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonosemantic)

• 立 (semantic): standing / upright
• 耑 (sound): 耑【タン】→ 端【タン】 ✓
• The radical 立 IS the semantic component.

Stroke order

• Structure: left 立 (5 strokes) → right: top 山 (3 strokes) + bottom 而 (6 strokes)
• Watch: 立 first (top dot, short horizontal, central vertical splits wide horizontal, left stroke, right stroke). Then 山 on the top right. Then 而 below (一 + long vertical + inner verticals + hook).
• Common error: writing 而 incorrectly — top horizontal first, then the left long vertical with a hook, then inner strokes.

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681 — 需 (demand, need) — 14 strokes

Radical: 雨 (あめかんむり — "rain") · かんむり (top) · 14 strokes total

Components & function — 会意 (compound ideograph) (some scholars argue 形声)

• 雨 (semantic): rain
• 而 / 天 (form): person standing under sky
• → "getting wet, waiting for rain" → later "to need"
• An alternative analysis treats the bottom as a sound component from 孺. Most consensus: 会意.
• The radical 雨 IS the semantic component.

Stroke order

• Structure: top 雨 (8 strokes) → bottom 而 (6 strokes)
• Watch: 雨 radical on top uses its compressed form: horizontal, then the 冂 frame, then the centre vertical, then the four dots inside. Then 而 below.
• Common error: confusing 需 (demand) with 零 (zero) or 霊 (spirit) — all have 雨 on top but different bottoms. Make sure the bottom is 而 (with its characteristic inner verticals).

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682 — 器 (vessel, instrument, skill) — 15 strokes

Radical: 口 (くち — "mouth") · no specific position · 15 strokes total

Components & function — 会意 (compound ideograph) (but etymology ultimately unclear — 字源不詳)

• 犬 (form / meaning, center, often corrupted to look like 大): possibly a dog guarding vessels (per 説文解字), or 大 as "many kinds of"
• 口 ×4 (form): four containers/vessels surrounding the center
• ⚠️ Radical is 口, but the meaning comes from the full compound structure, not a single 口. The center component may be 犬 (corrupted to look like 大).

Stroke order

• Structure: top 口口 (6 strokes) → 犬 center (4 strokes) → bottom 口口 (6 strokes) — but actually 15 strokes total with the dot
• Watch: top-left 口 first, then top-right 口, then centre 大 with the dog-dot (犬), then bottom-left 口, then bottom-right 口. The 犬 in the centre has 4 strokes (horizontal, ノ, ㇏, dot).
• Common error: forgetting the dot on 犬 (writing 大 instead) — very common mistake. 器 = four 口 around 犬, not around 大.

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683 — 品 (goods, quality, elegance) — 9 strokes

Radical: 口 (くち — "mouth") · no specific position · 9 strokes total

Components & function — 会意 (compound ideograph)

• 口 ×3 (form): three 口 shapes represent many items / containers → "goods, articles"
• The radical 口 is appropriate here — the whole character IS three 口.

Stroke order

• Structure: top 口 (3 strokes) → bottom-left 口 (3 strokes) → bottom-right 口 (3 strokes)
• Watch: simple and symmetrical. Top 口 first (centred). Then bottom-left 口, then bottom-right 口. Each 口 is: vertical-left, horizontal-top-and-right-vertical, then bottom horizontal.
• Common error: making the three 口 the same size — the top one should be slightly larger/wider than the bottom two.

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684 — 商 (commerce, business, trade) — 11 strokes

Radical: 口 (くち — "mouth") · no specific position · 11 strokes total

Components & function — 不詳 (uncertain — structure and etymology debated)

• Possibly related to the Shang dynasty name (商 was the dynasty; Shang people became associated with trade).
• 説文解字 analyzed it as 㕯 + sound 章【ショウ】, but Wiktionary JP notes this is considered an incorrect analysis.
• ⚠️ Structure debated. Don't over-analyze the components — learn 商 as a unit.

Stroke order

• Structure: top 亠 (2 strokes — dot + horizontal) → middle 冂-like enclosure → inner component with 口
• Watch: starts with the top dot, then horizontal. Then the wide downward strokes forming the enclosure (冂-like). The 八 inside the top. Then the inner 口 near the bottom.
• Common error: getting the order of the inner strokes wrong — the 八-like strokes come before the bottom 口 section.

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Stroke & Component Patterns in This Lesson

木 cluster — 様 植 極

Three kanji share 木 on the left (きへん position). The left side is identical for all three (4 strokes: 一 丨 ノ 丶 — note the final right stroke becomes a dot/short stroke when 木 is in きへん position). The right side is what determines reading and meaning:

Kanji	Right side	Reading driver
様	羊 + 氺	羊【ヨウ】 → 様【ヨウ】
植	直	直【チョク】 → 植【ショク】
極	亟	亟【キョク】 → 極【キョク】

Practice 木 in きへん position once — it covers three of the lesson's eleven kanji.

羊 cluster — 差 養 善 様 (false-lookalike + sound + meaning)

Four kanji have a 羊-derived top, but the 羊 plays a different role in each:

Kanji	Role of 羊
差	False lookalike — the top looks like 羊 but is historically unrelated
養	Sound component (羊【ヨウ】 → 養【ヨウ】)
善	Meaning component (auspicious / good)
様	Sound component (羊【ヨウ】 → 様【ヨウ】)

Stroke order is consistent across the four: two short diagonals (ソ) → three horizontals top-to-bottom. But what comes BELOW changes everything semantically.

而 component — 端 needs · 需

Both 端 (right-bottom) and 需 (bottom) contain 而. Same stroke order in both: long horizontal → left vertical dropping with hook → short inner verticals.

口 prominence — 品 器 商

• 品 = three 口 stacked (the whole character IS the 口 repetition)
• 器 = four 口 around 犬 in the center
• 商 = one 口 inside an enclosure structure

Practice the compact 口 (vertical → corner/horizontal → bottom close) — it recurs heavily.

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Phonetic Series Summary (also in the workbook, repeated here for reference)

Sound Component	Reading	In This Lesson	Other Common Kanji
羊	ヨウ	養, 様	洋, 痒
直	チョク→ショク	植	値【チ】, 殖【ショク】
亟	キョク	極	— (rare component)
耑	タン	端	瑞【ズイ】(sound shifted)

💡 Lesson highlight: 羊 appears in four kanji this lesson (養, 善, 様, and the top of 差 looks like it) but serves a different function each time — sound in 養/様, meaning in 善, and is actually a false lookalike in 差. This is a perfect example of why position alone doesn't determine function.

Etymological decompositions are simplified for study purposes. For rigorous functional analysis, see the Outlier Kanji Dictionary (iOS/Android via Pleco). Free sources used: Wiktionary JP, Kanji Alive, on'yomi cross-referencing via WWWJDIC.

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Sources

• KanjiVG — github.com/KanjiVG/kanjivg | License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 | ~11,000 kanji/kana as individual SVGs with numbered strokes. Files named by 5-digit hex Unicode codepoint.
• kanjivg-to-png — github.com/nicdgonzalez/kanjivg-to-png | Rust CLI that converts KanjiVG SVGs into step-by-step stroke panel PNGs (one panel per stroke, progressively building the kanji).
• AnimCJK — github.com/parsimonhi/animCJK | License: Arphic Public License | Animated stroke-order SVGs for 6,400+ Japanese kanji. Files named by decimal Unicode codepoint in svgsJa/ folder. View in browser for CSS animation.
• Jisho.org — jisho.org | Uses KanjiVG data for its stroke order diagrams.
• Kakijun — kakijun.jp | Japanese stroke-order reference site with detailed diagrams (in Japanese).
• Outlier Linguistics — outlier-linguistics.com | The Outlier Kanji Dictionary (iOS/Android via Pleco) is the gold standard for rigorous functional component analysis.