How to Write 滟 (yàn) — Meaning “sparkling (of water)”

Imagine a beautiful, colorful sunset reflecting on a lake — the water becomes sparkling and dazzling. The left part 氵 is water, and the right part 艳 reminds you of "yàn" meaning colorful, so you can remember 滟 as "colorful water." This visual link helps you recall both the meaning and the pronunciation.

The left radical 氵 is written with three strokes: dot, dot, and a short upward lift. The right side 艳 starts with the top part (a horizontal stroke then a dash) and the bottom part 色 (seven strokes — pay attention to the hook in the last stroke). A common mistake is to make the right side too narrow or to misplace the water radical, so keep both sides balanced and about the same height.

涪 (fú) is a water radical plus 咅 and refers to a river name in Sichuan, with no connection to sparkling. 涫 (guàn) uses 官 and means "to boil" or "bubbling water," completely different from sparkling. Visually, 滟 has the right component 艳 (colorful), while 涪 has 咅 and 涫 has 官 — so the right parts are distinct in shape and meaning.

滟 is rarely used alone in everyday speech; it appears mostly in classical poetry or set phrases like 潋滟 (liàn yàn), which describes rippling, sparkling water. A famous cultural reference is 滟滪堆 (yàn yù duī), a dangerous rock in the Yangtze River that was often mentioned in ancient literature and navigation warnings.

Common words containing 滟 include: 潋滟 (liàn yàn) — (Of water) rippling / sparkling; 滟滟 (yàn yàn) — sparkling; rippling; 滟滪堆 (yàn yù duī) — Yanyu Stack (a famous rock in the Yangtze River).