[niisonge]
As another example, the character for "bowl" ?? Normally it uses
the stone radical ?? But, it can also be written with the earth
radical ? instead of the stone radical. Or, you could use the wood
radical ?? Or, you chould use the dish radical ? on the bottom.
So that all gives it some kind of meaning - whether it's a bowl made
from stone, earth, wood, etc. Anyway, most people today just write it
as ??

That all adds to the complexity and beauty of written Chinese, which is
not expressed in the spoken language.

[Danny]
Agree, however, the 'pre-fixes' you mentioned are not radical, but archaic.

? in its early written form is not with ?, but with ?, indicating that it is
a metallic object with a wide mouth and narrow bottom, to put things in.

The 'pre-fixes' then changed to ?, ?, ?, ?, before finalising on the
character we know today.

danny