How to Write 谚 (yàn) — Meaning “proverb; saying”

Picture a talented person (彦) giving a speech (讠) full of old wisdom—that speech is a proverb. Imagine the right side 彦 as a person with a tall hat, and the left side 讠 as words coming from their mouth.

The left radical 讠 is narrow, taking about one-third of the space, while the right side 彦 is wider and taller. A common mistake is making the right side too small—be sure the top dot of 彦 is clearly above the horizontal line, and the three strokes at the bottom (彡-like) are evenly spaced.

All three share the speech radical, but 谚 means "proverb" (wise saying), while 诫 (jiè) means "to warn" or "admonish" (right side 戒, a guard). 诬 (wū) means "to falsely accuse" (right side 巫, a shaman). So 谚 is about wisdom, 诫 is about caution, and 诬 is about falsehood.

谚 appears mostly in written or formal contexts, especially in the word 谚语 (yàn yǔ) meaning "proverb" or "adage." It is also found in terms like 农谚 (nóng yàn) for "agricultural proverbs" passed down by farmers, reflecting traditional Chinese farming knowledge.

Common words containing 谚 include: 谚语 (yàn yǔ) — proverb; adage; 古谚 (gǔ yàn) — Ancient proverb; 农谚 (nóng yàn) — Agricultural proverbs.