yán
adjective HSK 4 #7,533

Meanings

  1. 1 strict
  2. 2 stern
  3. 3 tight; severe

Examples

HSK 1
Wǒmen lǎoshī hěn yán.
Our teacher is very strict.
HSK 2
Tā duì zìjǐ yāoqiú hěn yán.
He is very strict with himself.
HSK 3
Bàba guǎn wǒ guǎn de hěn yán.
My father disciplines me very strictly.

Tips

usage
is often used in compounds: 严格 (strict), 严重 (serious), 严厉 (stern, harsh). On its own it usually means 'strict' about discipline or rules.

Components

semantic
second; Asia (here a graphic remnant)
Inner - drawn in a contracted 5-stroke form (standalone has 6; the bottom horizontal merges with the cliff). The traditional had two mouths above a body shape; the simplification compressed those into this silhouette. Pure graphic remnant, not the standalone meaning.
semantic
hǎn
cliff; overhang
Outer - a horizontal stroke turning down sharply, picturing an overhanging cliff. Wraps around the upper-left of the inner silhouette, framing it under the cliff face. The original had this stern-cliff imagery feeding 'strict, stern, severe'. Indexed under Kangxi #1 via the top horizontal of .

Filed under radical (yī, #1) by convention. is not a separate component in , so no strokes are highlighted.

Stroke Order

yán