衍 (yǎn): to spread; to proliferate; to m…

Meanings

1 to spread; to proliferate; to multiply
2 to develop; to elaborate; to deduce
3 superfluous; redundant (of text)

Characters

衍

yǎn

to spread; to proliferate

Examples

HSK 7-9

地球上的生命已经繁衍了数十亿年。

Dìqiú shàng de shēngmìng yǐjīng fányǎn le shùshíyì nián.

Life on this planet has proliferated for billions of years.

HSK 7-9

从这个原理可以推衍出许多推论。

Cóng zhège yuánlǐ kěyǐ tuīyǎn chū xǔduō tuīlùn.

From this principle one can deduce many corollaries.

HSK 7-9

《易经》以六十四卦来演衍天地之理。

Yìjīng yǐ liùshísì guà lái yǎnyǎn tiāndì zhī lǐ.

The Book of Changes uses sixty-four hexagrams to elaborate on cosmic patterns.

Tips

usage

yǎn lives in three modern compounds. (1) Biological spread / multiplication: 繁衍 (proliferate, propagate - of populations, species, lineages). (2) Logical / theoretical elaboration: 推衍 (deduce, derive), 演衍 (expand on, develop a theory). (3) Textual criticism: a 衍文 is a 'superfluous character' - text accidentally added by a scribe and not part of the original. The common thread is overflow: water spilling beyond its banks, life spilling into new generations, ideas spilling into consequences.

memory

Read the picture: 氵 water inside 行 (a crossroads / movement) = water flowing through channels and spreading out. From physical overflow, the sense widened to populations spreading, theories being drawn out, and stray characters spilling into a manuscript.

Components

radical

行 xíng

to walk; to go; row; line

Outer wrapping 行 (Kangxi #144, originally a four-way crossroads viewed from above) - splits left and right around the inner water radical. Supplies both the indexing radical and a movement-flavoured meaning: water flowing along channels, spreading out as it goes. Same radical heads 街 (street) and 衡 (balance).

semantic

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form)

Inner three-drop water - the side-stacking form of 水. Anchors the original meaning: water spreading out of its course. From physical overflow the character extended to biological propagation (繁衍) and intellectual elaboration (推衍).