臉

臉 · liǎn

face; cheek; reputation

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

face; cheek; reputation

Mandarin
liǎn
Cantonese
lim5

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 臉 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

ケンレンランセン

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

ケン レン ラン セン

Korean 한국어

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+81C9
Radical
肉 · 130
Strokes
17 · Unihan
Residual
13

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

17 strokes
臉
Strokes
17
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

17 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿰月僉(GJKPV)
⿰⺼僉(HT)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 臉

Character connections

No reverse component match in this collection.

History & distinctions

Related forms

Unihan traditional/simplified variant properties. Conversion may depend on context.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
tshjem · 七廉 反切 · #1103
Middle Chinese
leamX · 力減 反切 · #2070

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 8644 · tshjem = 咸開三平鹽清 · leamX = 咸開二上咸來

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
liǎn
kCantonese
lim5
kDefinition
face; cheek; reputation
kTotalStrokes
17
kRSUnicode
130.13
kSimplifiedVariant
U+8138
kGradeLevel
1

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
liǎn 32117.040
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
liǎn 0704.101
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 臉 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
162dictionary records using 臉0forms using this shape0attributed sound links
⿰ Left / right

Shape description
月 beside 僉 · the shape used in China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam
Source notation ^⿰月僉$(GJKPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 162 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿰月僉$(GJKPV)

^⿰⺼僉$(HT)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.