yàn

inkstone

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components
石 meaning component

  Meaning component

shídàn

  

stone

见 sound component

  Sound component

jiànxiàn

  

see

Evolution

砚 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
砚 Traditional script Modern

Traditional script

Modern
砚 Simplified script Modern

Simplified script

Modern
Definitions

() 

yàn

inkstone; ink-stone

Most common words with 砚
Freq.
Word
Meaning

砚台

ink stone

ink-stone

端砚

high-quality ink stonemade in Duanxi and Guangdong

程砚秋

Cheng Yanqiu (1904-1958), famous Beijing opera star, second only to 梅蘭芳|梅兰芳[Méi​Lán​fāng]

砚石

ink stone