The character 羊 (yáng): sheep
- Pronunciation
- yáng
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 羊
What it means
sheep; goat; CL:頭|头[tou2],隻|只[zhi1]
Where its shape comes from
A sheep's head seen face on. Xu Shen says that the graph pictures "the head, the horns, the legs and the tail"; what the early forms show most clearly is the pair of horns curling downwards, where those of the ox stand up. A pictogram.
Source: Xu Shen, Shuowen Jiezi (121 CE); the Chinese University of Hong Kong character database.
A way to remember it
Two small horns in a V above three bars, all of it run through by an upright shaft. The horns TOUCH the first bar: if they float above it, the character is wrong.
This is a memory aid, not the origin of the character.
Words it appears in
- 羊肉 yáng ròu · HSK 2 mutton; goat meat
- 白羊座 bái yáng zuò Aries (constellation and sign of the zodiac)
- 山羊 shān yáng goat; (gymnastics) small-sized vaulting horse
- 羊毛 yáng máo fleece; wool; woolen
- 羔羊 gāo yáng sheep; lamb
- 牛羊 niú yáng cattle and sheep; livestock
Writing it
See the stroke order of 羊, animated stroke by stroke.