沿 (yán) is a Chinese character meaning “to follow along (a river, road or edge)”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 㕣 (marsh; sound part of 沿, 铅, 船), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “along (the water's edge)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 㕣
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字「沿，緣水而下也。从水，㕣聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵㕣，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–7 为「㕣」（3+5=8画）
Memory aid
Water (氵) on the left, 㕣 on the right — you stay with the water and move along its edge.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 沿海yán hǎicoastal; along the coast沿 = yán
- 沿着yán zhealong; following (a road, river or edge)沿 = yán
Go deeper
All readings
along
to follow along (a river, road or edge); along; to carry on (a tradition)
顺着（水道、路线或边）；也指因袭、继承。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 沿海yán hǎicoastal; along the coast沿 = yán
- 沿着yán zhealong; following (a road, river or edge)沿 = yán
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 沿 mean?
沿 (yán) means to follow along (a river, road or edge); along; to carry on (a tradition).
How do you pronounce 沿?
It is pronounced yán.
What parts is 沿 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 㕣 (marsh; sound part of 沿, 铅, 船), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字「沿，緣水而下也。从水，㕣聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵㕣，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–7 为「㕣」（3+5=8画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 沿 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 沿?
氵. 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 沿?
Common ones are 沿海 and 沿着. The reading of 沿 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.