涯 (yá): border, horizon, shore
涯 (yá) is a Chinese character meaning “border.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 厓 (phonetic). It ranks #2494 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 涯 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- border
- horizon
- shore
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 涯 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 生涯noun | shēng yá | career |
| 天涯海角phrase | tiān yá hǎi jiǎo | the ends of the earth |
| 天涯noun | tiān yá | the other end of the world |
| 浪迹天涯 | làng jì tiān yá | to roam far and wide (idiom) |
| 海角天涯 | hǎi jiǎo tiān yá | see 天涯海角 |
| 学海无涯phrase | xué hǎi wú yá | sea of learning, no horizon (idiom) |
| 海内存知己，天涯若比邻 | hǎi nèi cún zhī jǐ , tiān yá ruò bǐ lín | close friend in a distant land, far-flung realms as next door |
| 地角天涯 | dì jiǎo tiān yá | The ends of the earth |
| 天涯何处无芳草proverb | tiān yá hé chù wú fāng cǎo | there are plenty more fish in the sea (idiom) |
| 吾生也有涯，而知也无涯 | wú shēng yě yǒu yá , ér zhī yě wú yá | Life is short, learning is limitless |
| 天涯区 | tiān yá qū | Tianya, a district of Sanya City 三亞市|三亚市, Hainan |
| 天涯若比邻phrase | tiān yá ruò bǐ lín | far-flung realms as next door (idiom) |
| 天涯比邻 | tiān yá bǐ lín | see 天涯若比鄰|天涯若比邻 |
| 戎马生涯 | róng mǎ shēng yá | army life (idiom) |
| 咫尺天涯 | zhǐ chǐ tiān yá | so close, yet worlds apart (idiom) |
涯 appears in 16 compound words: 0 as the first character, 56 as the last, and 44 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 涯 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
ends of the world; ends of the earth; remote place; separated worlds apart
knowledge is infinite like a boundless ocean; there is no limits to what one can learn
ends of the world; ends of the earth; remote place; separated worlds apart
knowledge is infinite like a boundless ocean; there is no limits to what one can learn
Example Sentences
清晨的涯面波光粼粼，倒映着岸边的柳树。
qīng chén de yá miàn bō guāng 粼 粼 , dǎo yìng zhe àn biān de liǔ shù .
The water's edge glistened in the early morning light, reflecting the willow trees along the shore.
...动员费兹柏德历夺威士伯锦标赛冠军 职业生涯第三个PGA巡回赛胜利
. . . dòng yuán fèi zī bǎi dé lì duó wēi shì bó jǐn biāo sài guàn jūn zhí yè shēng yá dì sān gè P G A xún huí sài shèng lì
...Fitzpatrick Wins the Whistlebay Championship, Claiming His Third PGA Tour Victory
杜拜封王! 梅德韦杰夫不战而胜夺生涯第23冠
dù bài fēng wáng ! méi dé 韦 jié fū bù zhàn ér shèng duó shēng yá dì 2 3 guàn
Dubai is crowned! Medvedev won the 23rd title of his career without a fight
冬奥/日双人花滑“璃来龙”生涯金满贯 透露未来一起退役
dōng ào rì shuāng rén huā huá lí lái lóng shēng yá jīn mǎn guàn tòu lù wèi lái yī qǐ tuì yì
Winter Olympics/Japan pair figure skating "Lilailong" career golden slam revealed that they will retire together in the future
...客运重现怀旧女车掌 高雄“真车掌”分享职涯甘苦
. . . kè yùn chóng xiàn huái jiù nǚ chē zhǎng gāo xióng zhēn chē zhǎng fēn xiǎng zhí yá gān kǔ
... Passenger transport recreates nostalgic female conductors Kaohsiung's "real conductors" share the joys and sorrows of their careers
英超|尼高奥莱利生涯首次梅开二度 哥迪奥拿喜见青训成果
yīng chāo ní gāo ào 莱 lì shēng yá shǒu cì méi kāi èr dù gē dí ào ná xǐ jiàn qīng xùn chéng guǒ
Premier League | Nico O'Reilly scored twice for the first time in his career, and Guardiola was happy to see the results of his youth training
他的政治生涯完蛋了。
Tā de zhèngzhì shēngyá wándàn le.
His political career is done for.
海上升明月，天涯共此时。
Hǎishàng shēng míngyuè, tiānyá gòng cǐshí.
As the moon rises above the sea, we share the same time though we are far apart.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 涯 (yá) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 涯 (yá)?
Is 涯 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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