衖 meaning and stroke order
Alley, lane
How to write 衖, stroke by stroke
12 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 衖
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- variant of 巷[xiang4]
How 衖 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Step.
行 gives the meaning and 共 hints at the sound.
Radical: 行 (to go), shared by 12 characters on this site.
How to remember 衖
共 (gòng) sits inside 行 (xíng, to walk), so picture a narrow path where people walk together, shoulder to shoulder. That shared walkway is an alley, and 共 also hints at the sound.
衖 is a variant form of 巷 (xiàng), and modern Chinese almost always writes 巷 instead. You may still see 衖 in older texts or in Shanghai street names, where the related word for lanes is often written 弄 (lòng). Example in the standard form: 他住在小巷里。(Tā zhù zài xiǎo xiàng lǐ.) He lives in a small alley.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes split 衖 into 行 plus a separate character and misread it, or confuse it with 街 (jiē, street), which also sits inside 行. Remember that 街 has 圭 in the middle, while 衖 has 共.
Questions about 衖
How many strokes are in 衖?
衖 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 衖 mean?
衖 (xiàng) means alley, lane.
How do you pronounce 衖?
衖 is pronounced xiàng, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 衖?
The radical of 衖 is 行, which carries the idea of "to go". Dictionaries list 衖 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 衖?
衖 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 弄, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Should I use 衖 or 巷 when writing?
Use 巷 in everyday writing, since it is the standard form in both simplified and traditional Chinese. 衖 is mainly something to recognize when reading.
Is 衖 related to the Shanghai word for lane?
Yes. In Shanghai the alleys called lòngtáng are usually written 弄堂, but 衖堂 also appears in some older writing. In that word the character is read lòng rather than xiàng.