How to Write 簷 (yán) — Meaning “eaves”

Imagine a bamboo roof (⺮) with water (⺌) flowing down from the eaves, and below it a speech bubble (言) as if the eaves are "speaking" in the rain. The top part 竹 represents bamboo, and the lower part 詹 (zhān) sounds like "yán" and visually suggests a roof's edge.

The top radical 竹 must be written with two small hooks (亻亻) not as two separate characters. The lower part 詹 has 13 strokes; ensure the 言 component is centered and the 人 (person) radical on top of 言 is not too wide. Most learners forget the small tail on the bottom right of 詹.

簷 (eaves) has the bamboo radical and a phonetic part 詹, while 篼 (a type of basket or container) uses 兜 (dōu) as its lower component. 篾 (bamboo strip or splint) has 蔑 (miè) below, meaning to disdain or bamboo skin. Focus on the lower part: 簷 has 詹, 篼 has 兜, and 篾 has 蔑.

簷 appears in words like 屋簷 (roof eaves) and 房簷 (house eaves), describing the overhanging part of a roof. It is less common in daily speech but appears in literature, architecture descriptions, and idioms like "簷下低頭" (lowering one's head under the eaves), symbolizing humility or yielding.

Common words containing 簷 include: 屋簷 (wū yán) — Eaves.; 房簷 (fáng yán) — eaves; 簷下 (yán xià) — under the eaves.