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

冰融化成了水。

Bīng rónghuà chéng le shuǐ.

The ice melted into water.

现代化的城市变化很快。

Xiàndàihuà de chéngshì biànhuà hěnkuài.

Modernized cities change very quickly.

这个地方绿化得很好。

Zhège dìfang lǜhuà de hěn hǎo.

This place has been well greened.

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.'