岩 (yán) — rock; cliff (used as a bound morpheme in place names and compound words)
Definition
A bound morpheme meaning 'rock / cliff', almost never used alone — it appears in compounds (岩石, 岩石洞, 花岗岩) and place names. The standalone word for 'rock' in everyday speech is 石头.
bound form
rockcliff (used as a bound morpheme in place names and compound words)
Examples
- 。Zhè zuò shān de yán shí fēi cháng jiān yìng.The rock on this mountain is very hard.
- 。Wǒ men zài yán dòng lǐ kàn dào le zhōng rǔ shí.We saw stalactites in the cave.
- 。Huā gāng yán shì yì zhǒng cháng jiàn de huǒ chéng yán.Granite is a common type of igneous rock.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 巖; 岩 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
嚴
嚴yán巖yán
Same sound today
The traditional form 巖 combines 山 (mountain) with 嚴, a part that gives the sound; the simplified 岩 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the original parts.
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