(yán): cliff, rock

(yán) is a Chinese character meaning “cliff.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #1414 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, the rocks 石 that make up a mountain 山. Its radical form (mountain) appears in many related characters such as (shān, mountain), (suì, years old), (àn, bank).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. cliff
  2. rock

Etymology & Origin

ideographicThe rocks 石 that make up a mountain 山

Decomposition: ⿱山石 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
yán shí(geology) rock
yán jiāng(geology) magma
róng yán(geology) lava
huā gāng yángranite
yán céngrock strata
piàn má yángneiss
shā yánsandstone
huǒ chéng yánigneous rock (geology)
huǒ shān yánvolcanic rock
xuán wǔ yán(geology) basalt
huī cháng yángabbro (geology)
yán yánrock salt
yuè yánmoon rock
chén jī yánsedimentary rock (geology)
shí huī yánlimestone
100
Total compounds
28
As first character
57
As last character
15
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 28 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 15 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

shí
0.586108,462 co-occurrences
shā
0.55714,088 co-occurrences
jiāo
0.5469,432 co-occurrences
jiāng
0.5464,800 co-occurrences
pān
0.5449,096 co-occurrences
gǎng
0.53810,842 co-occurrences
xiè
0.5344,224 co-occurrences
huī
0.51014,874 co-occurrences
0.47713,638 co-occurrences
xuán
0.4587,308 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

zhěn yán shù liúHSK 7+

see 枕石漱流[zhen3 shi2 shu4 liu2]

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

字虽然难写,但意思很有趣。

yán zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .

The character "岩" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

嘉县半天私人八重樱园绽放 自由参访带动观光

jiā xiàn bàn tiān yán sī rén bā chóng 樱 yuán zhàn fàng zì yóu cān fǎng dài dòng guàn guāng

Jiaxian Bantianyan private double cherry blossom orchard blooms free visit to drive sightseeing

百度新闻Feb 2026

用金牌当屏保,宁忠不过是把冷板凳坐热

yòng jīn pái dāng bǐng bǎo , nìng zhōng yán bù guò shì bǎ lěng bǎn dèng zuò rè

Using the gold medal as a screensaver, Ning Zhongyan is just sitting on the cold bench to heat up

百度新闻Feb 2026

大看台|从郑钦文到宁忠:冲破欧美垄断 镌刻东方印..

dà kàn tái cóng zhèng qīn wén dào nìng zhōng yán : chōng pò ōu měi lǒng duàn 镌 kè dōng fāng yìn . .

From Zheng Qinwen to Ning Zhongyan: Breaking through the monopoly of Europe and the United States and engraved the Oriental Seal:

百度新闻Feb 2026

...会|家乡连线:“我儿子是冠军!”——宁忠家乡..

. . . huì jiā xiāng lián xiàn : wǒ ér zǐ shì guàn jūn ! — — nìng zhōng yán jiā xiāng . .

... Hometown Connection: "My son is a champion!" ——Ning Zhongyan's hometown:

百度新闻Feb 2026

一环内禁燃!云区春节期间烟花爆竹禁限放区域、时间..

yī huán nèi jīn rán ! yún yán qū chūn jié qī jiān yān huā bào zhú jīn xiàn fàng qū yù , shí jiān . .

No combustion in the first ring! During the Spring Festival in Yunyan District, fireworks and firecrackers are prohibited and restricted:

Tatoeba

一块石从上面落下。

Yī kuài yánshí cóng shàngmiàn luòxià.

A rock fell from above.

Tatoeba

从远处看,石像一张人的脸。

Cóng yuǎnchù kàn, yánshí xiàng yī zhāng rén de liǎn.

Seen at a distance, the rock looks like a human face.

Tatoeba

他的头撞到了一块石。

Tā de tóu zhuàng dào le yīkuài yánshí.

He hit his head against a rock.

Tatoeba

水池是花岗做的。

Shuǐchí shì huāgāngyán zuò de.

The washbasin is made of granite.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced yán

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 岩 (yán) mean in Chinese?
岩 (yán) primarily means "cliff." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1414 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 岩 have?
岩 is written with 8 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 岩?
The radical associated with 岩 is 山 (mountain). This radical appears in many characters related to mountain.
What are the components of 岩?
岩 is composed of: 山 (structural), 石 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱山石 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 岩?
Common words with 岩 include: 岩石 (yán shí, "(geology) rock"); 岩浆 (yán jiāng, "(geology) magma"); 熔岩 (róng yán, "(geology) lava"); 花岗岩 (huā gāng yán, "granite"); 岩层 (yán céng, "rock strata"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 岩 (yán)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yán: 烟 (smoke), 延 (to prolong), 严 (tight (closely sealed)), 言 (words), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 岩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 岩 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.