S K I P
SYSTEM OF KANJI INDEXING BY PATTERNS
[This document contains the text and examples from the covers of the "New
Japanese-English Character Dictionary" edited by Jack Halpern and published
by Kenkyusha and NTC. It is reproduced with Mr Halpern's kind permission.
The text on which this is based used four patterns which are not able to be
reproduced in this document. They are referred to below as #1 through #4,
and relate to the following shapes in the NJECD:
¢£¢£¡±¡±¡Ã ¢£¢£¢£¢£ ¢£¢£¢£¢£ ¢£¢£¢£¢£
¢£¢£¡¡¡¡¡Ã ¢£¢£¢£¢£ ¢£¢£¢£¢£ ¢£¢£¢£¢£
¢£¢£¡¡¡¡¡Ã ¢£¢£¢£¢£ ¢£¡¡¡¡¢£ ¢£¢£¢£¢£
¢£¢£¡¡¡¡¡Ã ¡Ã¡¡¡¡¡Ã ¢£¡¡¡¡¢£ ¢£¢£¢£¢£
¢£¢£¡¡¡¡¡Ã ¡Ã¡¡¡¡¡Ã ¢£¢£¢£¢£ ¢£¢£¢£¢£
¢£¢£¡²¡²¡× ¡Ã¡²¡²¡× ¢£¢£¢£¢£ ¢£¢£¢£¢£
#1 #2 #3 #4
LEFT- TOP- ENCLOSURE SOLID
RIGHT BOTTOM]
HOW TO LOCATE AN ENTRY
A. Determine the SKIP number of your character.
STEP 1 IDENTIFY PATTERN
Determine to which of the four PATTERNS your character belongs to get the
first part of the SKIP number (the PATTERN NUMBER).
If your character belongs to pattern #1, #2 or #3 (Áꢪ#1), carry out the
steps in the left column; if it belongs to pattern #4 (²¼¢ª#4), carry out the
steps in the right column. (REF: R4. How to Identify the Pattern)
#1 #2 #3 #4
STEP 2
DIVIDE CHARACTER OMIT
Divide the character into two parts at (Since solid characters
the first division point. [Áê=ÌÚ+ÌÜ] cannot be divided, go to
REF: R5. How to Divide the Character STEP 3.) REF: R6. How to
Subclassify the Solid Pattern
STEP 3
COUNT STROKES OF SHADED PART DETERMINE TOTAL STROKE-COUNT
Count the strokes of the SHADED PART Determine the total stroke-count of
to get the second part of the SKIP your character to get the second part
number. [Áê #1 1-4-] of the SKIP number. [²¼ #4 4-3-]
REF: Appendix 2. How to Count Strokes REF: Appendix 2. How to Count Strokes
STEP 4
COUNT STROKES OF BLANK PART IDENTIFY SOLID SUBPATTERN
Count the strokes of the BLANK PART Determine to which of the four
to get the third part of the SKIP SOLID SUBPATTERNS your character
number. [Áê #1 1-4-5] belongs to get the third part of the
REF: Appendix 2. How to Count Strokes SKIP number. Select from: `¡±' 1,
`¡²' 2, `|' 3, or `¢£' 4. [²¼ #4 4-3-1]
REF: R6. How to Subclassify the
Solid Pattern
After determining the SKIP number of your character, locate your character
entry in one of two ways:
1. Determine the entry number in the Pattern Index beginning on p. 1952 then
locate your character entry in the main part of the dictionary. See R3.1.2
Index Method for details.
2. Locate your character entry directly (without referring to the Pattern
Index) from its SKIP number. See R3.1.3 Direct Method for details.
NOTE: All references preceded by a section mark (R) refer to SYSTEM OF KANJI
INDEXING BY PATTERNS beginning on p. 106a
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE PATTERN
DETERMINE TO WHICH OF THE FOUR PATTERNS YOUR CHARACTER BELONGS
#1 Characters that can be divided into left and right parts
RIGHT: Áê 4-5 Ȭ 1-1 ½ç 1-11 °· 3-3
WRONG: ÊÒ 1-3 ÍÑ 1-4 ²Ä 3-2 ¿ 3-3
#2 Characters that can be divided into top and bottom parts
RIGHT: Æó 1-1 »û 3-3 ¸Å 2-3 ½Õ 5-4
WRONG: Ëü 1-2 ¹Í 4-2 ´Ö 8-4 ºÁ 4-3
#3 Characters that can be divided by an enclosure element
RIGHT: ¿Ê 3-8 ¹ 3-2 Ìä 8-3 ¹ñ 3-5
WRONG: Æþ 1-1 ¸â 4-3 ̾ 3-3 °Ù 5-4
#4 Characters that cannot be classified under patterns #1, #2, or #3
RIGHT: ±« 8-1 ʼ 5-2 Ãæ 4-3 Í¿ 3-4
WRONG: Åá 2-1 Æü 4-1 ¿å 4-3
IF A CHARACTER CAN BE CLASSIFIED UNDER MORE THAN ONE PATTERN, SELECT THE ONE
THAT FOLLOWS THE NATURAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE CHARACTER
RIGHT: »ù 2-5-2 È¢ 2-6-9
WRONG: »ù 1-2-5 È¢ 1-7-8
HOW TO DIVIDE THE CHARACTER
DIVIDE THE CHARACTER INTO TWO PARTS AT THE FIRST DIVISION POINT
#1 Going from left to right, divide at the first space
RIGHT: ÌÀ 4-4 ¾® 1-2 °· 3-3
WRONG: ¾® 2-1 ³¹ 9-3
#2 Going from top to bottom, divide at the first space, horizontal line, or
frame element, whichever comes first
RIGHT: »° 1-2 ¶¼ 2-8 ÀÖ 3-4 ¸Å 2-3
WRONG: »° 2-1 ¶¼ 6-4 ÀÖ 2-5 ²¼ 1-2
#3 Going from the outside toward the inside, divide after the first enclosure
element
RIGHT: ÅÙ 3-6 ¿Ê 3-8 ÊÄ 8-3 ÌÜ 3-2
WRONG: ÅÙ 7-2 Ëá 11-5
DO NOT VIOLATE THE PRINCIPLE OF ELEMENT INTEGRITY
1. Never break through strokes
RIGHT: ¶§ 3-2-2 WRONG: ¶§ 1-1-4
2. Never break through indivisible units
RIGHT: ¾ð 1-3-8 WRONG: ¾ð 1-1-10
3. Never make unnatural divisions
RIGHT: µ¤ 3-4-2 WRONG: µ¤ 2-2-4
HOW TO SUBCLASSIFY THE SOLID PATTERN
A. DETERMINE TO WHICH OF THE FOUR SOLID SUBPATTERNS YOUR CHARACTER BELONGS
`T' 1. Characters that contain a top line
RIGHT: ±« 8-1 ²¼ 3-1 ¼ª 6-1 ²Ì 8-1
WRONG: Åá 2-1 Àé 3-2 ¿â 8-1 ʼ 5-1
2. Characters that contain a bottom line
RIGHT: ¾å 3-2 ʼ 5-2 ¿â 8-2
WRONG: »³ 3-2 Êñ 5-2 ¼Ô 8-2
3. Characters that contain a through line
RIGHT: Ãæ 4-3 Åì 8-3 ÌÓ 4-3
WRONG: ¿å 4-3 À£ 3-3 ¸á 4-3 Äï 7-3
4. Characters that do not contain a top line, bottom line, or through line
RIGHT: Í¿ 3-4 Âç 3-4 ¼÷ 7-4
WRONG: »å 6-4 µ× 3-4 ͧ 4-4 Îô 6-4
B. IF A CHARACTER CAN BE CLASSIFIED UNDER MORE THAN ONE SUBPATTERN, THE
SUBPATTERN WITH THE SMALLEST NUMBER TAKES PRECEDENCE
RIGHT: ²¦ 4-1 ¸Ê 3-1 ÆÓ 7-1 ²Ì 8-1 ½Ð 5-2 À¸ 5-2 ¹Ã 5-1
WRONG: ²¦ 4-2 ¸Ê 3-2 ÆÓ 7-2 ²Ì 8-3 ½Ð 5-3 À¸ 5-3 ¹Ã 5-3