岩 (yán): rock

Measure Word

一块岩石 kuài

Meanings

1 rock
2 cliff
3 crag

Characters

岩

yán

rock; cliff

Composed of 山 (mountain) over 石 (stone)

Examples

这块岩石很坚硬。

Zhèkuài yánshí hěn jiānyìng.

This rock is very hard.

山上有很多岩洞。

Shānshàng yǒu hěnduō yándòng.

There are many caves on the mountain.

Tips

memory

岩 combines 山 (mountain) on top and 石 (stone) below — stone from a mountain, i.e. rock.

Components

radical

山 shān

mountain

Top indexing radical 山 — pictograph of three peaks. Provides the 'mountain origin' part of the compound: rocks come from mountains. Same radical anchors 峰 (peak), 峡 (gorge), 岭 (ridge), 崖 (cliff). Stacked over 石 in classic top-bottom semantic compound layout.

semantic

石 shí

stone

Bottom 石 (stone) — pictograph of a stone falling from a cliff (the slanting top stroke is the cliff face). Compound ideograph: mountain + stone = boulder, rock outcrop. 岩 specifically denotes living bedrock as opposed to a loose 石. Same 石 in 砂 (sand), 矿 (ore), 砖 (brick).