片 - Stay on Your SIDE of This PIECE of the Pallet

Readings & Meanings:

かた

ヘン

fragment, one-sided

Common Usage:

片付ける

片方

断片

片仮名

Examples:

部屋を片付ける。

片方の目に出来物ができた。

記憶の断片に残っている。

片仮名を覚えなさい。

Translations:

I'll tidy up the room.

I got an infection in one eye.

I still have a fragment of memory (of that incident).

Please remember katakana.

Radical:

片 is its own radical! Kata-hen is its name.

This is really funny: 片 is the reverse of 爿, a kanji that means a long, wooden sleeping pallet. They both show a log split in half. Therefore, "one side."

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/ka.htm