<p>This character is the shinjitai form of 盐/鹽 used in modern Japanese (pronounced えん for chemical salts or しお for common salt). </p>

<p>In Chinese, either simplified or traditional, it is obsolete, according to <a href="http://www.hudong.com/wiki/%E5%A1%A9" rel="nofollow">Hudong</a> and <a href="http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE5ZdicA1ZdicA9.htm" rel="nofollow">Zdic</a>, which means it is no longer in contemporary usage. Its use in your grammar book would therefore seem incorrect.</p>

<p>There are some exceptions to this rule, however. If you do a search online for 雪塩燒, which is a type of food consumed in Taiwan, you will find many instances where it's written with the Japanese kanji (although there are equal number of instances where it's written with 鹽). The food item obviously has its roots in Japan and it's possibly the reason why its name has preserved the Japanese kanji character in some instances (for branding purposes or simply fashion, who knows).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-10T05:25:35.843Z
It is not really the Shinjitai form of 盐/鹽 since at some time in the past it was also accepted as a Chinese character.
BertR
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-10T07:01:30.763Z
Yes. It's covered in the second paragraph. And yes, it's definitely used in Japanese. I have since looked it up. It's used *everywhere* (in Japanese that is).
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-10T07:20:11.120Z
Yes, I know it is used in Japanese. I also mentioned that in my answer :-)
BertR
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-10T04:39:45.163Z
2012-07-10T06:52:36.933Z
2012-07-10T06:52:36.933Z
deutschZuid
<p>From Wenlin 4.0.2</p>

<ul>
<li>Character: 塩</li>
<li>Pinyin: [yán] [yàn]</li>
<li>Meaning (Unihan): salt</li>
<li>Encodings: U+5869 [CJK, Unicode 1.1] (GB+ 8963) (Big5+ bb92)</li>
<li>References: Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:1.472.11*; Mathews:7352</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T13:26:19.507Z
The Pinyin seems to be just Yán and not Yàn. Besides, according to what I found and also another answer below, this is not a Chinese character but the Japanese variant of 鹽 / 盐.
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-10T04:28:35.287Z
@Alenanno, some of the pronunciations Wenlin lists are more than just strange. So I wouldn't be surprised here.
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T11:35:40.153Z
2012-07-09T13:25:50.617Z
2012-07-09T13:25:50.617Z
Aristide
<p>One way to look the character up is by using the IME Pad. The radical has three strokes while the remaining part has 10. Unfortunately IME didn't give the pronunciation this time, so I had to look it up in an online dictionary.</p>

<p>塩
yan2
salt</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/tnWX8.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T12:49:24.310Z
2012-07-09T12:49:24.310Z
Kenjo
<p>There is something weird going on with 塩.</p>

<p>I checked many dictionaries (both online and offline, and both from the mainland and Taiwan and it seems that 塩 is an old variant of 盐|鹽 (See for example <a href="http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE5ZdicA1ZdicA9.htm">Zdic</a> and <a href="http://zd.eywedu.com/zd/zi/ZdicE5ZdicA1ZdicA9.htm">汉语大字典</a>) meaning salt and is currently no longer used as a Chinese character, but it is still used as a Japanese one.</p>

<p>Since it currently not used anymore (both on the mainland and Taiwan), it is normal that you can't find it in any Chinese dictionaries.</p>

<p>This being said, I asked two Taiwanese friends whether they knew this character and they all recognize it and thought it was the simplified form of 鹽 used in mainland China. I also asked some mainland friends and they don't recognize it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T12:59:37.060Z
I suppose it must be a variant of the traditional character then. It's  used repeatedly in a book which is not related to Japanese at all. The book is in traditional characters and published in Taiwan, so Japanese influence is not impossible, though.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T13:27:41.267Z
+1 because I found the same results. Nciku doesn't list it and my chinese dictionaries don't list it either. Furthermore, one of these two dictionaries says "Japanese variant of 鹽|盐", so BertR is right, I think.
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T14:48:54.587Z
This seems to settle it, then. I can't explain why a book printed in 2008 has this character in it (they could have chosen any other noun, it was just an example sentence), but that's not really important. Thanks, guys!
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T15:11:10.877Z
@OlleLinge If this helped you, make sure you accept the answer. (Note: if in the future you get better answers to this or other questions, you can change the accepted answer.)
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T15:21:43.703Z
I'm still new here and haven't yet learnt all the various functions. I have accepted this answer now. Thanks for pointing this out!
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T15:39:14.307Z
@OlleLinge If you have problems, either ping me in chat (`@username`) or post in our [Meta] site.
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-10T04:30:48.980Z
I do recognize it as 'salt' when I first saw it coming from a simplified script background. It must be used in mainland China, because that's where I saw it, just can't remember where or when.
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-10T04:33:19.023Z
Ah, I remember now. I saw it on a Japanese TV series while staying in China!! That must be it. It's the shinjitai (the Japanese version of simplified Hanzi) form.
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-09T11:41:29.320Z
2012-07-09T15:29:58.377Z
2012-07-09T15:29:58.377Z
BertR
<p>I've tried a number of online and paper dictionaries (Chinese-Chinese character dictionaries) and I still can't find this character. Since I don't know how it's pronounced or what the right part is called, I have attached a representation of the character I drew: </p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/k9ujk.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>This character is used many times over in the grammar book I'm reading, mostly in example sentences on 把 usage. The only time it occurs with any kind of context is 他有的時候把[X]當糖吃. Can anyone tell me what this character means and how it's pronounced?</p>

<character-identification>
What does 塩 mean?
# What does 塩 mean?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-07-09)

I've tried a number of online and paper dictionaries (Chinese-Chinese character dictionaries) and I still can't find this character. Since I don't know how it's pronounced or what the right part is called, I have attached a representation of the character I drew:

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/k9ujk.png)

This character is used many times over in the grammar book I'm reading, mostly in example sentences on 把 usage. The only time it occurs with any kind of context is 他有的時候把[X]當糖吃. Can anyone tell me what this character means and how it's pronounced?

**Tags:** character-identification

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-07-09. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

There is something weird going on with 塩.

I checked many dictionaries (both online and offline, and both from the mainland and Taiwan and it seems that 塩 is an old variant of 盐|鹽 (See for example [Zdic](http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE5ZdicA1ZdicA9.htm) and [汉语大字典](http://zd.eywedu.com/zd/zi/ZdicE5ZdicA1ZdicA9.htm)) meaning salt and is currently no longer used as a Chinese character, but it is still used as a Japanese one.

Since it currently not used anymore (both on the mainland and Taiwan), it is normal that you can't find it in any Chinese dictionaries.

This being said, I asked two Taiwanese friends whether they knew this character and they all recognize it and thought it was the simplified form of 鹽 used in mainland China. I also asked some mainland friends and they don't recognize it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I suppose it must be a variant of the traditional character then. It's  used repeatedly in a book which is not related to Japanese at all. The book is in traditional characters and published in Taiwan, so Japanese influence is not impossible, though.  
> **username_4**: +1 because I found the same results. Nciku doesn't list it and my chinese dictionaries don't list it either. Furthermore, one of these two dictionaries says "Japanese variant of 鹽|盐", so BertR is right, I think.  
> **username_0**: This seems to settle it, then. I can't explain why a book printed in 2008 has this character in it (they could have chosen any other noun, it was just an example sentence), but that's not really important. Thanks, guys!  
> **username_4**: @OlleLinge If this helped you, make sure you accept the answer. (Note: if in the future you get better answers to this or other questions, you can change the accepted answer.)  
> **username_0**: I'm still new here and haven't yet learnt all the various functions. I have accepted this answer now. Thanks for pointing this out!  
> **username_4**: @OlleLinge If you have problems, either ping me in chat (`@username`) or post in our [Meta] site.  
> **username_1**: I do recognize it as 'salt' when I first saw it coming from a simplified script background. It must be used in mainland China, because that's where I saw it, just can't remember where or when.  
> **username_1**: Ah, I remember now. I saw it on a Japanese TV series while staying in China!! That must be it. It's the shinjitai (the Japanese version of simplified Hanzi) form.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-07-10. Score: 4

This character is the shinjitai form of 盐/鹽 used in modern Japanese (pronounced えん for chemical salts or しお for common salt).

In Chinese, either simplified or traditional, it is obsolete, according to [Hudong](http://www.hudong.com/wiki/%E5%A1%A9) and [Zdic](http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE5ZdicA1ZdicA9.htm), which means it is no longer in contemporary usage. Its use in your grammar book would therefore seem incorrect.

There are some exceptions to this rule, however. If you do a search online for 雪塩燒, which is a type of food consumed in Taiwan, you will find many instances where it's written with the Japanese kanji (although there are equal number of instances where it's written with 鹽). The food item obviously has its roots in Japan and it's possibly the reason why its name has preserved the Japanese kanji character in some instances (for branding purposes or simply fashion, who knows).

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: It is not really the Shinjitai form of 盐/鹽 since at some time in the past it was also accepted as a Chinese character.  
> **username_1**: Yes. It's covered in the second paragraph. And yes, it's definitely used in Japanese. I have since looked it up. It's used *everywhere* (in Japanese that is).  
> **username_2**: Yes, I know it is used in Japanese. I also mentioned that in my answer :-)  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2012-07-09. Score: 3

From Wenlin 4.0.2

* Character: 塩
* Pinyin: [yán] [yàn]
* Meaning (Unihan): salt
* Encodings: U+5869 [CJK, Unicode 1.1] (GB+ 8963) (Big5+ bb92)
* References: Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:1.472.11\*; Mathews:7352

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: The Pinyin seems to be just Yán and not Yàn. Besides, according to what I found and also another answer below, this is not a Chinese character but the Japanese variant of 鹽 / 盐.  
> **username_1**: @Alenanno, some of the pronunciations Wenlin lists are more than just strange. So I wouldn't be surprised here.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2012-07-09. Score: 1

One way to look the character up is by using the IME Pad. The radical has three strokes while the remaining part has 10. Unfortunately IME didn't give the pronunciation this time, so I had to look it up in an online dictionary.

塩
yan2
salt

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/tnWX8.png)


---

