顔

Translingual

Traditional	顏
Shinjitai	顔
Simplified	颜

Stroke order (Japan)

Han character

顔 (Kangxi radical 181, 頁+9, 18 strokes, cangjie input 難難難卜竹 (XXXYH) or 卜竹一月金 (YHMBC), composition ⿰彦頁)

Related characters

顏 (Orthodox traditional form used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau)
颜 (Simplified Chinese)

Derived characters

㘖, 𤄰

References

Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 1407, character 17
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 43591
Dae Jaweon: page 1925, character 1
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4383, character 9
Unihan data for U+9854

Usage notes

This character is the preferred form used in Japan, Korea, Vietnam as well as mainland China (when used as a traditional character).

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 顔
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Variant form of 顏 (彥 → 彦).

Definitions

For pronunciation and definitions of 顔 – see 顏 (“forehead, especially the glabellar area; countenance; facial expression; etc.”). (This character is a variant traditional form of 顏).

Usage notes

This character is considered the traditional form of 颜 in mainland China based on the standardized form of characters (Xin Zixing) in use since 1965.

Japanese

Shinjitai	顔
Kyūjitai	顏

Kanji

顔

(Second grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 顏)^[1]

Readings

Go-on: げん (gen)
Kan-on: がん (gan, Jōyō)
Kun: かお (kao, 顔, Jōyō)^{←かほ (kafo, 顔, historical)}、かんばせ (kanbase, 顔)

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
顔
かお Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
顏 (kyūjitai)

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) かお [kàó] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [ka̠o̞]

Noun

顔(かお) • (kao) ^{←かほ (kafo)^?}

a person's face
a person's reputation

Descendants

⇒ Korean: 가오 (gao, “face; reputation”)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
顔
がん Grade: 2
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
顏 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese 顏 (MC ngaen).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɡã̠ɴ]

Affix

顔(がん) • (gan)

look; face; expression
color

References

^ “顔”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2024
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 顏 (MC ngaen). Recorded as Middle Korean 안 (an) (Yale: an) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

顔

Wikisource

顔 (eumhun 얼굴 안 (eolgul an))

hanja form^? of 안 (“face”)

Compounds

안면 (顔面, anmyeon)
안색 (顔色, ansaek)
용안 (容顔, yong'an)
세안 (洗顔, sean)
동안 (童顔, dong'an)
미안 (美顔, mian)

References

국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

Miyako

Kanji

顔

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

Kun: みぱな (mipana, 顔)、みーぱな (mīpana, 顔)

Etymology

Compound of 目 (mī, “eye”) +‎ 鼻 (pana, “nose”). Compare Japanese 目鼻 (mehana, “facial features”, literally “eyes and nose”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [mipana]

Noun

顔(みぱな) or 顔(みーぱな) (mipana or mīpana)

face

Okinawan

Kanji

顔

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

Kun: ちら (chira)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [t͡ɕira]

Noun

顔(ちら) (chira)

face

Vietnamese

Han character

顔: Hán Nôm readings: nhan, nhăn

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[1] “顔”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2024

[SMK2-2] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō

[NHK-3] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

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