化 (huà): to change

Meanings

1 to change
2 to transform
3 -ize (suffix)

Characters

化

huà

to change; to transform; -ize

Shows a person (亻) and an inverted person (匕) - transformation from one state to another.

Examples

HSK 2

这个地方绿化得很好。

Zhège dìfang lǜhuà de hěn hǎo.

This place has been well greened.

HSK 3

现代化的城市变化很快。

Xiàndàihuà de chéngshì biànhuà hěnkuài.

Modernized cities change very quickly.

HSK 7-9

冰融化成了水。

Bīng rónghuà chéng le shuǐ.

The ice melted into water.

Tips

grammar

化 as a suffix turns nouns/adjectives into verbs meaning 'to become/make X': 现代化 (modernize), 绿化 (make green), 简化 (simplify), 美化 (beautify). Very productive in Chinese.

usage

文化 (culture), 变化 (change), 消化 (digest) - 化 appears in many common compound words with different shades of meaning.

Components

radical

匕 bǐ

person inverted; spoon (radical)

Right indexing radical (Kangxi #21) - though the modern form looks like a small spoon, in 化 it's the upside-down version of the 亻 on the left: the same figure, head down. The compound depicts a standing person and a fallen one side-by-side, the visual of transformation/death. Same radical in 北 (back-to-back = north), 比 (compare), 旨 (meaning).

semantic

亻 rén

person (left-side radical)

Left person radical - two strokes, the compressed standing-side form of 人. Pictures a person standing upright (alive). Compound ideograph: pair this with 匕 on the right and you get the original picture - a standing person beside a tumbled/inverted person. From 'one figure flipping into another' came the meaning 'transform, change, become.'