As far as I know, 阝is a kanji radical, and it usually is a meaning component for the kanjis, usually denoting hills, city, or barriers of some sort, assuming it is positioned on the left.
If you can share some examples, may be it will clarify the contrxt around your query.
On the left, it's a condensed way of writing 阜 (hill), and on the right it's 邑 (village). Respectively they are called こざとへん (small village radical) and おおざとへん (big village radical).
