雁 (yàn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

雁

yàn[yan4]Tone 4

wild goose

HSK 7

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · wild goose

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:12

Writing Balance Rule: The top '厂' roof component must shelter the enclosed elements gracefully, while the lower body '隹' must be centered and evenly spaced vertically.

1. Meaning

wild goose

migratory birds symbolizing mail or letters in ancient literature

NounNeutral#animals#birds#nature

Sample Usage

大雁南飞
dà yàn nán fēi
wild geese flying south
鸿雁传书
hóng yàn chuán shū
wild geese carrying letters (literary metaphor for correspondence)

2. Sound

/[jan˥˩]/Tone: 51

雁

yànyan4

`(51)

=yàn

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

yan

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Glide (y)

Sounds like: y sound as in 'yes'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Acts as a bridge into 'i' or 'ü' vowel sounds.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Flat tongue position rising from high front vowel glide to alveolar nasal.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -an rhymes with 'on' in British English or 'an' in 'ran'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ahn'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges straight down, exactly like a sharp command or an emphatic exclamation in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the falling tone (Tone 4) with the rising tone (Tone 2) or neutral tone, making it sound like yán or yan.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp nod of the head downwards, like saying a definitive 'No!'

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 12 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top '厂' roof component must shelter the enclosed elements gracefully, while the lower body '隹' must be centered and evenly spaced vertically.

4. Components

Radical 隹 · Short-tailed bird radical (short-tailed bird)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 隹 (indicates that it is a type of bird)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 亻 (original sound: yàn sound clue in older forms)

A human-like or cliff-like shelter component at the top sheltering a short-tailed bird (隹) underneath, depicting a wild goose taking flight or nesting near cliffs.

厂 cliff shelter
人 people or human shape
隹 short-tailed bird

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicted a large migratory bird flying in formations, combining cliff or shelter elements with bird imagery to represent the wild goose.

Semantic Evolution: From physical wild geese migrating across seasonal skies to literary symbols of longing, distance, and message delivery.

In ancient China, wild geese were believed to mate for life and were used as betrothal gifts.
Geese flying in a 'V' formation inspired ancient poets reflecting on separation from family.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Under a steep cliff (厂), people (人) watch a short-tailed bird (隹)—a wild goose—diving down from the sky with a sharp cry (yàn).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

催

cuīto urge / pressUses person component (亻) on the left instead of cliff shelter

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

催(cuī)

催 has a person on the left (亻) meaning to urge, whereas 雁 has a cliff roof (厂) over a person and a bird.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

秋天到了，成群的[___]向南方飞去。

Clue: yàn

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the stroke order of the top roof (厂) and inner elements, or misapplying tone 4 as tone 1.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 雁, what migratory bird does it represent and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'wild goose' (yàn) with 12 strokes?

雁yànwild goose

Speed:

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