jan1殷
Jyutpingjan1
Yaleyān
Definition
A Chinese surname, or another name for the Shang dynasty.
- a Chinese surname, usually transliterated as Yin, Yan, or Ian
- another name for the Shang dynasty of ancient China
neutralpeopleother
How it's used
Primarily encountered as a surname in modern Hong Kong, where it is often romanized as Yan. When referring to the historical dynasty, it is almost exclusively paired with 商 to form 殷商 to avoid ambiguity. It is a formal term rarely used in casual conversation outside of historical or genealogical contexts.
Examples
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
