羊 (yáng) is a Chinese character meaning “sheep”. It is written from 丷 (two spreading strokes) and 丰 (abundant; lush growth), one above the other, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “sheep; goat”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丷 + 丰
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+7F8A and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (strokes 1–2 form 丷 on top; strokes 3–6 are three horizontals crossed by one long vertical, the shape of 丰)
Memory aid
Two short strokes lean in at the top (丷) like a pair of horns, sitting on 丰 — three stacked horizontals with one long vertical dropped straight through them.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 山羊shān yánggoat羊 = yáng
- 羊肉yáng ròumutton; lamb羊 = yáng
- 羊肉串yáng ròu chuànlamb skewer; mutton kebab羊 = yáng
- 涮羊肉shuàn yáng ròuinstant-boiled mutton (thin lamb slices dipped in hot-pot broth)羊 = yáng
- 绵羊mián yángsheep羊 = yáng
- 羊羔yáng gāolamb羊 = yáng
- 羔羊gāo yánglamb; (fig.) an innocent, helpless person羊 = yáng
- 羚羊líng yángantelope羊 = yáng
Go deeper
All readings
sheep; goat
sheep; goat; any animal of the sheep and goat family
家畜，身上长毛，可以剪毛、吃肉，包括绵羊和山羊。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 山羊shān yánggoat羊 = yáng
- 羊肉yáng ròumutton; lamb羊 = yáng
- 羊肉串yáng ròu chuànlamb skewer; mutton kebab羊 = yáng
- 涮羊肉shuàn yáng ròuinstant-boiled mutton (thin lamb slices dipped in hot-pot broth)羊 = yáng
- 绵羊mián yángsheep羊 = yáng
- 羊羔yáng gāolamb羊 = yáng
- 羔羊gāo yánglamb; (fig.) an innocent, helpless person羊 = yáng
- 羚羊líng yángantelope羊 = yáng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 羊 mean?
羊 (yáng) means sheep; goat; any animal of the sheep and goat family.
How do you pronounce 羊?
It is pronounced yáng.
What parts is 羊 made of?
丷 (two spreading strokes) and 丰 (abundant; lush growth), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+7F8A and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (strokes 1–2 form 丷 on top; strokes 3–6 are three horizontals crossed by one long vertical, the shape of 丰). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 羊 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 羊?
羊. 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 羊?
Common ones are 山羊 and 羊肉. The reading of 羊 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.