what are the stroke names in this radical?

[trisha2766]

Does anyone know the names of the strokes in the radical 'cao3 zi4 tou2'/草字头 - that is the radical in these characters: 草,荷,花. The horizontal line I know, its heng2, but the two somewhat vertical lines I can't figure out.

I asked some Chinese people last weekend but they couldn't agree on what the strokes were. They either both could be shu4, or maybe the one on the right could be pie3 and the one on the left, na4.

[Demonic_Duck]

Looks like a pair of shus to me.

...not that I really know the first thing about Chinese calligraphy.

[jkhsu]

The first "vertical line" starting from the left is a 竖 (shu4) and the second one is a 撇 (pie3).

See these videos:

http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/26897201-1368507310.html

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzc0Mjg1ODE2.html

[trisha2766]

Thanks! It really is hard to tell from some fonts. Some really do write them both as 'shu4'.

[Hofmann]

Graphemically, they are both 豎. The second one, however, should be written as 撇.

[trisha2766]

Thanks, so call them both shu while writing them, but write the second one like pie?

[Hofmann]

What you call it depends on who you're talking to. If it's an IME or stroke-type-based dictionary, then call it 豎. If it's a human, then call it 撇.

[dona]

I remembered my tutor told me they were shu4 and pie3. But I'm still confused. I think they are the same.