Lesson 50 — Characters 707–716: 角 巻 券 償 賞 常 党 堂 非 与 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.

Quick Reference

#	Kanji	Stroke Order	Strokes	Radical	Links
707	角		7	⾓ (horn)	Jisho · AnimCJK
708	巻		9	⼰ (self)	Jisho · AnimCJK
709	券		8	⼑ (knife)	Jisho · AnimCJK
710	償		17	⼈ (person)	Jisho · AnimCJK
711	賞		15	⾙ (shell)	Jisho · AnimCJK
712	常		11	⼱ (cloth)	Jisho · AnimCJK
713	党		10	⼉ (human legs)	Jisho · AnimCJK
714	堂		11	⼟ (earth)	Jisho · AnimCJK
715	非		8	⾮ (wrong)	Jisho · AnimCJK
716	与		3	⼀ (one)	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.

Per-Kanji Entries

707 — 角 (angle, corner, square) — 7 strokes

Radical: ⾓ (つの — "horn, corner") · 7 strokes total

Components & function — 象形 (pictograph): depicts the curved shape of an animal horn. 角 is its own radical and acts purely as a meaning component in compounds.

• ⾓ (meaning): the horn/corner shape. In 解 (to solve/untie), 角 combines with 刀 and 牛 to suggest removing an animal's horns with a knife. In this chapter, 角 stands alone.
• No sound component: 角 is a standalone pictograph, not a phonetic-semantic compound. Its readings カク / かど / つの must be memorised individually.

Stroke order

• Structure: outer frame first — curved top-left stroke (like ク curving down-right), then the top-right stroke, then fill in the inner horizontal bars, then the base. Top half before bottom half.
• Watch: the top-left opening is a curve, not a right angle — 角 should look like a horn flaring outward, not a closed box.
• Common error: closing the top into a square. Keep the top strokes open; the first stroke curves and does not connect back to form a closed shape until the full character is written.

708 — 巻 (scroll, volume, book) — 9 strokes

Radical: ⼰ (おのれ — "self, snake") · 9 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonetic-semantic): upper coiling component (龹, suggesting wrapping/rolling) + 己 (self/snake radical, reinforces the curling sense). Reading カン from the phonetic upper element.

• 龹 / upper element (form + sound): the upper part of 巻 depicts bent, coiling arms or a person crouching — suggesting the action of rolling or wrapping. It carries the カン reading.
• 己 (form): the snake-like 己 at the bottom echoes the curling meaning and serves as the filing radical. It is NOT a semantic component in the usual sense here — its role is structural.

Stroke order

• Structure: write the upper component (龹) in full first — the inner bent strokes before the enclosing outer strokes — then 己 at the bottom (3 strokes: curved top, inner tick, base hook).
• Watch: the upper element has a specific internal order. The two short inner strokes come before the longer enclosing strokes above them.
• Common error: writing 己 as 已 (すでに) or 巳 (み). In 巻, the bottom is 己 (middle stroke touches the top right corner, does not extend past it). Compare 己 vs 已 vs 巳 carefully.

709 — 券 (ticket) — 8 strokes

Radical: ⼑ (かたな — "knife, sword") · 8 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonetic-semantic): same upper coiling component as 巻 (龹) + 刀 (knife). Reading ケン. The knife at bottom evokes cutting — tickets were physically cut from rolls or books.

• 龹 / upper element (form + sound): identical to the top of 巻. Carries the ケン reading.
• 刀 (meaning): knife/blade — documents that are "cut and issued." The semantic link: 刀 suggests the act of issuing a separated piece, hence a ticket or certificate.

Stroke order

• Structure: upper component (龹) first — same order as in 巻 — then 刀 (2 strokes: curved main stroke, then the short angled stroke hooking left) at the bottom.
• Watch: 刀 is only 2 strokes; 己 is 3. This is why 券 (8 strokes) has one fewer stroke than 巻 (9). Don't add an extra stroke to the bottom.
• Common error: writing 巻 when you mean 券, or vice versa. The tops are identical — the entire visual distinction is in the bottom radical (己 vs 刀).

710 — 償 (reparation, make up for, recompense) — 17 strokes

Radical: ⼈ (ひと — "person") · 17 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonetic-semantic): 亻 (person radical, meaning component) + 賞 (phonetic-semantic component, ショウ). A person (亻) returning the prize-value (賞) that was owed — hence recompense.

• 亻 (meaning): person radical (2 strokes). The human agent doing the compensating.
• 賞 (sound + meaning): the full 15-stroke character 賞 forms the right-hand side of 償 unchanged. Reading ショウ comes directly from 賞. The "value/prize" sense of 賞 is repurposed: instead of receiving value, a person is sending it back.

Stroke order

• Structure: left side first — 亻 (2 strokes: diagonal then curving vertical) — then the entire right side = 賞 written in full (15 strokes): 尚 (upper 8 strokes) then 貝 (lower 7 strokes).
• Watch: 償 is the most complex character in this lesson at 17 strokes. The right side is exactly 賞 — knowing 賞's stroke order makes 償's right half automatic.
• Common error: modifying the right side so it no longer matches 賞. The identity 償 = 亻 + 賞 is the mnemonic — if your right side doesn't look like 賞, something is wrong.

711 — 賞 (prize, reward, praise) — 15 strokes

Radical: ⾙ (かい — "shell, property, wealth") · 15 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonetic-semantic): 尚 (sound component, ショウ: "to esteem, value highly") + 貝 (meaning component, shell/wealth → material reward).

• 尚 (sound + meaning): upper 8 strokes. Means "to esteem, value" — semantically reinforces the idea of something prized. Reading ショウ. This same component tops 常, 堂, and 党 in this lesson — the chapter's dominant structural motif.
• 貝 (meaning): lower 7 strokes. Cowrie shell — the ancient symbol for wealth and exchange. 貝 as radical consistently signals value, money, or property (see also: 賃, 資, 財).

Stroke order

• Structure: 尚 first (top section: write 小 cluster at top, then the mouth 口-like area below it), then 貝 (top horizontal, then the box body, then two bottom horizontal strokes).
• Watch: the top of 賞 (the 尚 component) is structurally identical to the tops of 常, 堂, and 党. The only way to identify the character is the bottom radical. 賞 = 貝 at bottom.
• Common error: confusing 賞 with 常 (巾 below) in writing. Burn the pairing: 賞 prize = 貝 wealth below; 常 everyday = 巾 cloth below.

712 — 常 (usual, ordinary, normal) — 11 strokes

Radical: ⼱ (はば — "cloth, width") · 11 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonetic-semantic): 尚 (sound component, ジョウ: esteem/always) + 巾 (meaning component, cloth). A cloth that is always draped/hanging — the everyday, the habitual.

• 尚 (sound): upper 8 strokes. Provides the ジョウ reading (same phonetic component as 賞 ショウ, 堂 ドウ, 党 トウ — vowel shift across borrowing layers).
• 巾 (meaning): lower 3 strokes. Cloth hanging on a pole. The semantic link: cloth is a daily necessity — that which is always present → "usual, ordinary."

Stroke order

• Structure: 尚 (8 strokes) then 巾 (3 strokes: vertical down, short left horizontal, short right horizontal).
• Watch: 巾 vs 貝 at the bottom. 巾 is only 3 strokes (vertical + two short horizontals); 貝 is 7. If you write more than 3 strokes below 尚, you're writing 賞, not 常.
• Common error: the chapter's most frequent confusion — 常 vs 賞. Mnemonic: 常 = everyday cloth (巾 = fabric you see daily); 賞 = prize wealth (貝 = valuable shell).

713 — 党 (party, faction, clique) — 10 strokes

Radical: ⼉ (ひとあし — "human legs, person") · 10 strokes total

Components & function — simplified form of traditional 黨 (黒 "black" + 尚). In simplified 党, the upper portion retains the small-strokes element of 尚 (specifically 小 + the upper region) + 儿 (human legs) at the bottom. A group of people (儿) moving together under a shared value (尚-derived top).

• Upper component (form + sound): an abbreviated form of 尚, carrying approximate ТОУ/トウ reading (further vowel drift from ショウ → ジョウ → ドウ → トウ).
• 儿 (meaning): human legs — the "walking person" radical. Evokes a group of people; a clique or faction walks together.

Stroke order

• Structure: write the upper abbreviated component first (small strokes: 小-like cluster, then the middle region), then 儿 below (2 strokes: left-leaning then right-curving leg strokes).
• Watch: 党 vs 堂 — both share an 尚-derived top; the bottom is the only difference. 党 = 儿 (people, 2 strokes); 堂 = 土 (earth, 3 strokes).
• Common error: writing 兄 or 見 at the bottom instead of 儿. The bottom of 党 is just the two-stroke human-legs form, no extra horizontal strokes.

714 — 堂 (public chamber, hall) — 11 strokes

Radical: ⼟ (つち — "earth, ground") · 11 strokes total

Components & function — 形声 (phonetic-semantic): 尚 (sound component, ドウ — vowel shift from ショウ) + 土 (meaning component, earth/ground). A building that stands on the earth — a hall, chamber, or public space.

• 尚 (sound): upper 8 strokes. Phonetic hint for ドウ (shifted from ショウ). Same top as 賞, 常, 党.
• 土 (meaning): lower 3 strokes. Earth, ground — the foundation a hall is built upon. 土 as bottom radical signals physical structure or place (see also: 場, 地, 坂).

Stroke order

• Structure: 尚 (8 strokes) then 土 (3 strokes: shorter horizontal, longer horizontal, vertical down through centre).
• Watch: 土 vs 巾 at the bottom. 土 has two horizontals crossed by a vertical (like a cross or plus sign); 巾 has a vertical flanked by two short horizontals. Count strokes: both are 3, but the shapes differ.
• Common error: 堂 vs 常 written at speed. Burn the distinction: 堂 = hall on the ground (土 = earth); 常 = everyday cloth (巾 = fabric).

715 — 非 (un-, mistake, negative) — 8 strokes

Radical: ⾮ (あらず — "wrong, non-") · 8 strokes total

Components & function — 象形 (pictograph): depicts two wings or a pair of ribs spread in opposite directions from a central spine. The bilateral opposition encodes "wrong, contrary, non-."

• ⾮ as radical and meaning component: 非 is its own radical and never combines with other chapter characters. It functions purely as a prefix — 非公式, 非常, 非合法 — and retains its "negation/against norms" meaning consistently.
• No sound component: 非 is a standalone pictograph. Reading ヒ must be memorised.

Stroke order

• Structure: bilateral — left half, then right half. Left: 1 vertical stroke, then 3 short horizontal strokes (top to bottom). Right: 1 vertical stroke, then 3 short horizontal strokes mirroring the left.
• Watch: the two halves must be written in sequence (left side complete before right side). The horizontals on each side should be evenly spaced and symmetric.
• Common error: making the horizontal strokes uneven or asymmetric. In careful writing, each side has exactly 3 evenly-spaced horizontal strokes on either side of the central vertical. Rushing produces lopsided versions.

716 — 与 (bestow, participate in, give) — 3 strokes

Radical: ⼀ (いち — "one, horizontal stroke") · 3 strokes total

Components & function — simplified form of traditional 與 (14 strokes: 舁 + 与 or "two hands raising together"). The simplified 与 retains only 3 strokes. Structure debated; the radical ⼀ is a dictionary-filing convenience rather than a semantic component.

• Simplified form: the traditional 與 showed "two hands jointly lifting something up" — a vivid image of giving or participating together. In the simplified 与, this etymology is compressed into 3 strokes.
• No phonetic component: 与 is a simplified ideograph. Reading ヨ must be memorised along with the kun readings あたえる / あずかる.

Stroke order

• Structure: 3 strokes. Stroke 1: a top stroke that curves or angles (not a flat horizontal — it has a rightward sweep or slight downward bend). Stroke 2: a shorter middle horizontal. Stroke 3: the bottom horizontal, typically the longest of the three, often written with a slight upward lift at the right end.
• Watch: 与 is not three parallel horizontal lines (that would be 三). The strokes vary in length and the first stroke has a distinctive bend or hook. Proportions matter — the character should look balanced and intentional, not like 三 squashed.
• Common error: writing 与 as three identical horizontal strokes (like 三). The first stroke must curve or angle differently from a plain horizontal.

Stroke & Component Patterns in This Lesson

The 尚 cluster — 賞, 常, 党, 堂 (+ 償's right half)

This lesson's most striking structural feature: four of the ten kanji share 尚 (or a simplified variant) as their dominant upper component, differentiated solely by what sits below.

The reading also drifts systematically as 尚 is borrowed into different vocabulary layers: ショウ (賞, 償) → ジョウ (常) → ドウ (堂) → トウ (党). Recognising the pattern turns five separate readings into one anchored observation.

Disambiguation drill (all share 尚 top):

• What's below 尚? 貝 → 賞 (prize)
• What's below 尚? 巾 → 常 (usual)
• What's below 尚? 土 → 堂 (hall)
• What's below 尚? 儿 → 党 (party)

巻 / 券 — identical tops, different bottoms

Both characters use the same upper element (the coiling/rolling component 龹). The bottom is the only distinguishing feature:

• 巻 = 龹 + 己 (self/snake, 3 strokes) → 9 strokes total. Rolling, wrapping, volumes.
• 券 = 龹 + 刀 (knife, 2 strokes) → 8 strokes total. Cut documents, tickets, certificates.

In handwriting, slowing down for the bottom radical is the only reliable way to keep these distinct.

非 — symmetric pictograph, lesson's only negation prefix

非 (8 strokes) is structurally unique in this lesson — no shared components with any other chapter kanji. It functions exclusively as:

1. A standalone character/radical (⾮)
2. A productive negation prefix: 非公式, 非合法, 非人道的, 非常

The bilateral symmetry of 非 (two opposed wings) visually encodes its meaning. No other chapter kanji shares this bilateral design.

与 and 角 — structural isolates

与 (3 strokes, simplified from 與) and 角 (7 strokes, pictograph) share no components with any other lesson kanji. Both are best memorised as wholes rather than decomposed. 角 does appear as a meaning component in other common kanji (解, 触), but none of those appear in this lesson.

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

Sources

• KanjiVG — github.com/KanjiVG/kanjivg | License: CC-BY-SA 3.0
• kanjivg-to-png — github.com/nicdgonzalez/kanjivg-to-png
• AnimCJK — github.com/parsimonhi/animCJK | License: Arphic Public License
• Jisho.org — jisho.org | Uses KanjiVG data for stroke order diagrams.
• Outlier Linguistics — outlier-linguistics.com | The Outlier Kanji Dictionary is the gold standard for rigorous functional component analysis.