盐 (yán) is a Chinese character meaning “salt”. It is written from 土 (earth; soil) and 卜 (divination) and 皿 (dish; vessel), one above the other, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “salt”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
土 + 卜 + 皿
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: cjkvi-ids (盐 ⿱⿰土卜皿), checked against hanzi-writer-data stroke order: 土=0-2, 卜=3-4, 皿=5-9
Memory aid
Scrape up salty earth (土), stick a little marker (卜) beside the pile, and let the dish (皿) below catch what dries out: salt.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 食盐shí yántable salt盐 = yán
- 盐水yán shuǐsalt water; brine盐 = yán
- 钠盐nà yánsodium salt盐 = yán
Go deeper
All readings
salt
salt
盐，咸味的调味品，主要成分是氯化钠；也泛指化学上的盐类。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 食盐shí yántable salt盐 = yán
- 盐水yán shuǐsalt water; brine盐 = yán
- 钠盐nà yánsodium salt盐 = yán
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 盐 mean?
盐 (yán) means salt.
How do you pronounce 盐?
It is pronounced yán.
What parts is 盐 made of?
土 (earth; soil) and 卜 (divination) and 皿 (dish; vessel), one above the other. The recorded source is: cjkvi-ids (盐 ⿱⿰土卜皿), checked against hanzi-writer-data stroke order: 土=0-2, 卜=3-4, 皿=5-9. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 盐 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 盐?
皿. 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 盐?
Common ones are 食盐, 盐水, 钠盐. The reading of 盐 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.