𰎠
yán

cliff

No origin information available for this character yet.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

巖 cliff Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 山 represents the meaning and 嚴 represents the sound.

Components

山
山 Meaning component
shān mountain
嚴
嚴 Sound component
yán strict

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngæm[ŋ]ˤr[a]m (< uvular?)rocky, lofty
Zhengzhangŋraːm
Unicodengam

說文解字

岸也。从山嚴聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)