岸 (àn): shore; bank; coast

Meanings

1 shore; bank; coast

Characters

岸

àn

shore; bank; coast

山 (mountain) on top + 厂 + 干 — high ground by the water’s edge

Examples

船靠岸了。

Chuán kào'àn le.

The boat reached the shore.

河岸上种满了柳树。

Hé'àn shàng zhòng mǎn le liǔshù.

The riverbank is lined with willow trees.

我们站在岸边看日落。

Wǒmen zhàn zài'àn biān kàn rìluò.

We stood on the shore watching the sunset.

Tips

usage

Common compounds: 河岸 (riverbank), 海岸 (coast), 岸边 (shore side), 两岸 (both banks / both sides of the Taiwan Strait).

culture

两岸 (liǎng àn, 'both shores') is a political term referring to mainland China and Taiwan — the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Components

radical

山 shān

mountain

Top mountain radical — the indexing radical, pictograph of three peaks. Marks 岸 as a high-rising landform: the steep edge where land meets water, originally pictured as a small bluff over the river. Anchors it in the topographical family with 岛 (island), 岭 (ridge), 岩 (cliff).

semantic

厂 hǎn

cliff; overhang

Middle 厂 — a slanting overhang radical, drawing the lip of the cliff. Tucked under the mountain on top, it reinforces the bank-edge imagery: a high overhanging bluff rather than a gentle slope. Same shape appears in 厌 (suppress), 厨 (kitchen), 厕 (latrine — all originally things kept under shelter).

phonetic

干 gān

shield; dry

Bottom 干 supplies the sound — gān drifted to àn through onset shift. The 'dry' sense is incidentally apt: a riverbank is dry ground bordering wet water. Same phonetic appears in 杆 (pole), 肝 (liver), 赶 (chase). Modern compounds: 海岸 seashore, 河岸 riverbank, 上岸 to come ashore.