砚 (yàn) is a Chinese character meaning “inkstone”. It is written from 石 (stone; rock) and 见 (to see), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “inkstone”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
石 + 见
Left–right structure
Structure from: ids-derived (⿰石见；左为石旁表义，右为见表声；已与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 的 9 画笔顺逐笔核验：第 0–4 画为石，第 5–8 画为见)
Memory aid
Stone (石) on the left tells you what it is made of — a slab of rock. On the right, 见 (jiàn, "to see") carries no seeing here at all; it only lends its sound. A flat stone you grind ink on: an inkstone.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 砚台yàn taiinkstone砚 = yàn
Go deeper
All readings
inkstone
inkstone; the stone slab on which an ink stick is ground with water
研墨用的文具，多用石头制成，表面平滑。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 砚台yàn taiinkstone砚 = yàn
Sound component
见 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 砚 mean?
砚 (yàn) means inkstone; the stone slab on which an ink stick is ground with water.
How do you pronounce 砚?
It is pronounced yàn.
What parts is 砚 made of?
石 (stone; rock) and 见 (to see), side by side. The recorded source is: ids-derived (⿰石见；左为石旁表义，右为见表声；已与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 的 9 画笔顺逐笔核验：第 0–4 画为石，第 5–8 画为见). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 砚 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 砚?
石. 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 砚?
Common ones are 砚台. The reading of 砚 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.