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In the kanji 道, 週 and so on, the ⻌ radical is written last, then the main
element. The same for 建 and 延, in which the top-right component is written
first, then the 廴 radical. But in 起, 走 is written first. All three radicals
are used as "にょう" radicals, as far as I can tell, but 走 is written in a
different order to ⻌ and 廴. Is there any reason why?
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2015-05-08T13:49:41.390
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2015-05-08T15:10:21.603
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question
kanji radicals stroke-order
Why is the order of bottom-left radicals different for some kanji?
While other L-shaped partials, like @blutorange said in his comment (`走鬼麦風爪`
etc.), are only stylistic alterations when you use these parts in the left
side of a kanji, **⻌ is inherently L-shaped** , because it originates from the
combination of left-sided `⼻` and bottom `⽌`. The fact is widely attested in
pre-Qin inscriptions or bamboo (wooden) slip recordings (third from left in
the image below).

![通](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nw2GW.gif) (image from
[here](http://www.vividict.com/WordInfo.aspx?id=3295))

It becomes known through recent successive discoveries of Warring States
artifacts that Clerical Script (fifth from left) and Cursive Script (second
from right), which modern writing derives directly from, are not descent of
Seal Script (fourth from the left), but that of various popular styles
preexisting Qin's reign. Thus ⻌ didn't come from left-sided 辵 and is an
exception from the first place.

As for 廴, it turns out that this radical has multiple origins, most of them
are deformation or misinterpretation of ⻌ and others. For example, you can see
that the bottom-left part of 廷 ("palace") was originally L-shaped wall
surrounding the court, but later metamorphosed into ⻌ or 廴-ish shapes. So this
radical could be treated in the essentially same way to ⻌, and Kangxi
Dictionary only contain 10 of kanjis that belong to 廴.

![廷](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DWyTP.jpg) (image from
[here](http://www.vividict.com/WordInfo.aspx?id=3087))

* * *

**PS**  
⻌ vs 走 series in Shuihudi Qin bamboo text: ![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/U5smb.jpg) ![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VUb7p.jpg)
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2015-05-10T00:15:39.750
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answer