Pronunciation

Characters pronounced yan.

32 name characters share this pronunciation across tones. Pinyin alone does not identify a character; choose the Hanzi you want.

All 32 characters are listed below. Each links to its own page with meaning, structure, and names that use it.

厌 yàn dislike, detest, reject; satiate 咽 yàn throat; pharynx 唁 yàn express condolence 堰 yàn dam; embankment, dike, bank 宴 yàn to entertain, feast; a feast, banquet 焰 yàn flame, blaze; glowing, blazing 燕 yàn natural · warm swallow (bird); comfort, enjoy 砚 yàn inkstone 艳 yàn elegant beautiful, sexy, voluptuous 谚 yàn proverb, maxim 雁 yàn wild goose 验 yàn test, examine, inspect; verify 严 yán strict, rigorous, rigid; stern 妍 yán elegant beautiful, handsome; seductive 岩 yán natural cliff; rocks; mountain 延 yán delay, postpone, defer 檐 yán eaves of house; brim, rim 沿 yán follow a course, go along 炎 yán flame, blaze; hot 盐 yán salt 研 yán natural · scholarly grind, rub; study, research 蜒 yán millipede 言 yán scholarly · elegant words, speech 阎 yán village gate; surname 颜 yán face, facial appearance 淹 yān drown; cover with liquid, steep 烟 yān smoke, soot; opium; tobacco, cigarettes 焉 yān thereupon, then; how? why? where? 掩 yǎn to cover (with the hand); shut, conceal; ambush 演 yǎn perform, put on; exercise 眼 yǎn eye; eyelet, hole, opening 衍 yǎn overflow, spill over, spread out

Why several characters share one pinyin

Mandarin has many homophones. Tone narrows the sound, but different characters can still share the same syllable and tone. The Hanzi is the identity; the pinyin is only the sound.

Browse all name characters or use Search to look up a character by meaning.