CJK Radical Dog

It labels the animal component in radical indexes.

The dog radical ⺨ is the standalone sign used to name or index 犭, the compressed left-side component in full Han characters. It labels a part for discussion; it is not the ordinary word “dog.”

Japanese teaching materials call 犭 けものへん (“animal radical”) and show it in characters for raccoon dog, fox, wolf, boar, and cat. That range is the clue: the component can point to an animal category, not only literal dogs.

Why does ⺨ look like 犭?

They name the same component in different roles.

The full character 犬 is the historical source form. Inside compound characters, its left-side form is 犭; ⺨ is the separate radical sign used to label that component. The signs are related, but ⺨ should not replace 犭 inside a word.

A late Shang animal-bone specimen preserves 犬 as a side-view dog. The museum distinguishes it from 豕 (“pig”) by its slimmer belly and curled tail. A later entry in Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese character dictionary, describes 犬 as a picture sign and groups related characters under it. In Ming-era Chinese ethnonyms—names for peoples—dog-component spellings could mark a group as foreign or inferior; some were removed or replaced by the twentieth century. The component could be a neutral animal clue in one character and a degrading label in a name.

How do I type ⺨?

Use ⺨ for the radical label; use a full character in words.

The dog radical ⺨ suits an index, character diagram, or notes about Han components; a word needs the complete character containing 犭. Because ⺨ and 犭 are separate characters, a font can give them different widths and positions. That is a component-layout difference, not a change of meaning.

Use the standalone sign when your text is about the radical itself. For an ordinary word, write the complete character.