崖 (yá) is a Chinese character meaning “cliff”. It is written from 山 (mountain) and 厓 (cliff; bank), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “cliff”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
山 + 厓
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: IDS ⿱山厓 (Unicode 表意文字描述序列)，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数 3+8=11 核验一致（笔画 0–2 为山，3–10 为厓）。仅描述现代字形，各部件的来源与造字理据未确认
Memory aid
A mountain (山) sits on top of a cliff (厓). Put the mountain above the cliff edge and you get 崖 — a steep precipice.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 悬崖xuán yácliff; precipice崖 = yá
- 山崖shān yácliff; mountain precipice崖 = yá
Go deeper
All readings
cliff
cliff; precipice; steep edge of a mountain
山石或高地陡立的侧面；也指边际。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 悬崖xuán yácliff; precipice崖 = yá
- 山崖shān yácliff; mountain precipice崖 = yá
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 崖 mean?
崖 (yá) means cliff; precipice; steep edge of a mountain.
How do you pronounce 崖?
It is pronounced yá.
What parts is 崖 made of?
山 (mountain) and 厓 (cliff; bank), one above the other. The recorded source is: IDS ⿱山厓 (Unicode 表意文字描述序列)，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数 3+8=11 核验一致（笔画 0–2 为山，3–10 为厓）。仅描述现代字形，各部件的来源与造字理据未确认. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 崖 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 崖?
山. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 崖?
Common ones are 悬崖 and 山崖. The reading of 崖 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.