涯 (yá) is a Chinese character meaning “water's edge”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 厓 (cliff; bank), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “shore; limit”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 厓
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文新附「涯，水边也。从水从厓，厓亦声」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵厓，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–10 与「厓」逐笔对应（3+8=11画）
Memory aid
Water (氵) meets a cliff bank (厓): where the water stops at the bank is the edge — the shore, the limit.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 天涯tiān yáthe ends of the earth; a faraway place涯 = yá
- 生涯shēng yácareer; the course of one's life涯 = yá
Go deeper
All readings
shore; limit
water's edge; shore; bank; limit; boundary
水边；泛指边际、尽头。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 天涯tiān yáthe ends of the earth; a faraway place涯 = yá
- 生涯shēng yácareer; the course of one's life涯 = yá
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 涯 mean?
涯 (yá) means water's edge; shore; bank; limit; boundary.
How do you pronounce 涯?
It is pronounced yá.
What parts is 涯 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 厓 (cliff; bank), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文新附「涯，水边也。从水从厓，厓亦声」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵厓，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–10 与「厓」逐笔对应（3+8=11画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 涯 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 涯?
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 涯?
Common ones are 天涯 and 生涯. The reading of 涯 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.