speech

yán (yan2)

Radical no. 149 · 7 strokes (149 部首 · 7 149 bùshǒu · 7 huà)

Radical ⾔ (yán) — meaning: speech, 7 strokes.

Origin & mnemonic

This radical originates from a pictograph representing speech and language, with a mouth (the center stroke) emitting words or utterances (the surrounding strokes). In seal script and oracle-bone script, it depicts the act of speaking and conveying ideas.

Mnemonic: Picture a mouth releasing lines of words—the speech radical shows three vertical strokes plus slanted marks suggesting utterance flowing outward.

Characters with this radical (含此部首的字 hán cǐ bùshǒu de zì)

1 characters
  • yán

    "speech" or "words" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 149)

    2 strokes

Related radicals (相关部首 xiāngguān bùshǒu)

Same stroke count or numerically adjacent in the 214-radical set.