Primitive Question

[navaburo]

Does anyone have a name (historical or otherwise) for the primitive in the upper-left of this character: 擊? I'm starting to see it around and it would be helpful to have a name for it.

(It seems that the primitive is derived from 車 over 口, but I'm not sure what to call that either!)

Thanks,

Chris

[Michaelyus]

軎

wèi

http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE8ZdicBBZdic8E.htm

古代车上的零件，青铜制，形如圆筒，套在车轴的两端。軎上有孔，用以纳辖。亦作“轊”。

i.e. brass axle-tip for carts; also written 轊.

http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?submitButton1=Etymology&characterInput=%E8%BB%8E

[OneEye]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "primitive", but that part of the character (originally 軎) meant 'axle', according to 說文解字.

Edit: looks like I was beaten to it

[Shelley]

I also am curious as to what the OP meant by "primitive" .

[cababunga]

I also am curious as to what the OP meant by "primitive" .

I'm not OP, but "primitive element" is the term used at least in Heisig/Richardson books to refer to character components.

[navaburo]

Yes, that is what I meant.

I am working through Heisig's RTK. I've noticed that since I've been using his method I am noticing many of these "primitives" in my reading, for which I lack a proper name.

It would be nice to have a name for every primitive. A list of these names would greatly simplify talking about and remembering characters. (of course, the radical list is a great starting point, but it is by no means exhaustive for primitives)

Thanks for the help.

[Ok, so i will call 軎 and its other form by the name "axel".]