(yán): salt, CL:粒

(yán) is a Chinese character meaning “salt.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #1864 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. salt
  2. CL:粒

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

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 hú chéngSalt Lake City, capital of Utah
yán shuǐsalt water
yán suānhydrochloric acid HCl
jiāo yánseasoning mix of Sichuan pepper powder and salt
yán fènsalt content
xiāo suān yánnitrate
yán bātable salt
shí yánedible salt
guī suān yánsilicate
liú suān yánsulfate
yán dūsee 鹽都區|盐都区[Yan2 du1 Qu1]
yán yánrock salt
yà xiāo suān yánnitrite
yán jiǎnsaline and alkaline (earth)
yán jiǎn dìsaline soil
94
Total compounds
49
As first character
40
As last character
11
As middle character

appears in 94 compound words: 49 as the first character, 40 as the last, and 11 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.

suān
0.66235,760 co-occurrences
huái
0.5024,470 co-occurrences
0.4781,446 co-occurrences
0.459654 co-occurrences
tàn
0.4582,832 co-occurrences
róng
0.4522,784 co-occurrences
kuàng
0.4442,964 co-occurrences
0.4379,144 co-occurrences
fàn
0.425678 co-occurrences
chún
0.4181,164 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (5)

cháimǐyóuyánHSK 6+

alternative form of 柴米油鹽醬醋茶 /柴米油盐酱醋茶 (chái mǐ yóu yán jiàng cù chá)

phrase
líng zá mǐ yánHSK 4+

disordered and fragmentary

phrase
shēnglǐ yánshuǐHSK 4+

normal saline (solution)

noun
yóuyánjiàngcùHSK 6+

oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar; cooking ingredients; daily necessities

noun
yàxiāosuānyánHSK 4+

nitrite

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

学习字需要反复练习,才能写得工整。

xué xí yán zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .

Mastering the character for "salt" requires repeated practice to write it neatly.

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Mar 2026

...燕舞”发展史 微短剧《爱在风起燕舞时》在城开机

. . . yān wǔ fā zhǎn shǐ wēi duǎn jù ài zài fēng qǐ yān wǔ shí zài yán chéng kāi jī

...The History of "Swallows in Flight" The micro-series *Love in the Time of Swallows in Flight* Begins Filming in Yancheng

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

水蜂炮下周一登场 黄伟哲吁看蜂炮还要看灯...

yán shuǐ fēng pào xià zhōu yī dēng chǎng huáng wěi zhé xū kàn fēng pào hái yāo kàn dēng . . .

The saltwater bee cannon will debut next Monday Huang Weizhe calls for the bee cannon to look at the light...

商業周刊Feb 2026

2026水蜂炮:施放流程、遶境路线、防护装备、交...

2 0 2 6 yán shuǐ fēng pào : shī fàng liú chéng , 遶 jìng lù xiàn , fáng hù zhuāng bèi , jiāo . . .

2026 Saltwater Bee Cannon: Casting Process, Route, Protective Equipment, Delivery...

LtnFeb 2026

...三老爷宫百变12花神 化身污水孔盖、生日御守

. . . sān lǎo yé gōng bǎi biàn 1 2 huā shén huà shēn wū shuǐ kǒng gài , shēng rì yán yù shǒu

... The three old masters of the palace are changeable 12 flower gods incarnated as sewage hole covers and birthday salt amulets

百度新闻Feb 2026

大年初一暖心事!流浪28年,城阜宁东站派出所助流..

dà nián chū yī nuǎn xīn shì ! liú làng 2 8 nián , yán chéng 阜 nìng dōng zhàn pài chū suǒ zhù liú . .

Heartwarming on the first day of the Lunar New Year! After 28 years of wandering, the Yancheng Funing East Station Police Station helped the flow:

Tatoeba

按口味加和胡椒粉。

àn kǒuwèi jiā yán hé hújiāofěn.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tatoeba

请把和胡椒粉拿给我。

Qǐng bǎ yán hé hújiāofěn ná gěi wǒ.

Pass me the salt and pepper, please.

Tatoeba

她经常把糖和搞错。

Tā jīngcháng bǎ táng hé yán gǎocuò.

She frequently gets sugar and salt mixed up.

Tatoeba

可以帮助保存食物避免腐烂。

Yán kěyǐ bāngzhù bǎocún shíwù bìmiǎn fǔlàn.

Salt helps to preserve food from decay.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced yán

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 盐 (yán) mean in Chinese?
盐 (yán) primarily means "salt." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #1864 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 盐 have?
盐 is written with 10 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 盐?
The radical associated with 盐 is 皿 (dish). This radical appears in many characters related to dish.
What are the components of 盐?
盐 is composed of: 圤 (structural), 皿 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱圤皿 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 盐?
Common words with 盐 include: 盐湖城 (yán hú chéng, "Salt Lake City, capital of Utah"); 盐水 (yán shuǐ, "salt water"); 盐酸 (yán suān, "hydrochloric acid HCl"); 椒盐 (jiāo yán, "seasoning mix of Sichuan pepper powder and salt"); 盐分 (yán fèn, "salt content"). There are over 94 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 盐 (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 盐 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 盐 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.