Meanings & readings
Meanings & dictionary uses
2 senses · 6 wordsHair on the head
The corresponding Taiwan Mandarin reading
Languages & readings
Choose a recorded reading. Explore other varieties through their reference sources below.
Mandarin
Sense-linked readingsReadings & meanings
Usage scope
Regional and word-specific qualifications remain attached to the sense and vocabulary records.
Cantonese
Selected character readingSource & reading limitations
Jyutping · Unihan 17.0.0
This property supplies a customary character reading for collation and transliteration. It does not list every reading or identify the reading for each word and sense. It also does not encode a separate regional label for each value.
Other Chinese languages & varieties
Reference guides · character readings not yet imported.
Taiwanese Hokkien 臺灣台語Reference sources only
The Ministry of Education dictionary is the reference for Taiwanese vocabulary and readings. Its Tâi-lô guide distinguishes citation tones from changes in connected speech. Other Hokkien varieties require their own sources.
- Reference variety
- Taiwanese Hokkien, with the regional distinctions recorded by Taiwan's Ministry of Education
- Notation
- Tâi-lô (臺羅), as used by the linked MOE dictionary
Hakka 客語Reference sources only
Taiwan's Ministry of Education documents six Hakka varieties separately. Choose the variety before comparing readings; a single undifferentiated Hakka pronunciation would hide meaningful differences.
- Reference variety
- Taiwan: Sixian, Hailu, Dapu, Raoping, Zhao'an and Southern Sixian
- Notation
- Taiwan Hakka Romanization System (臺灣客語拼音方案)
Teochew 潮州話／潮汕話Reference sources only
Explore CUHK's published Chaozhou lexicon and its separate Shantou sound table. These reference locations remain explicit: readings from one locality should not stand in for every Teochew variety.
- Reference variety
- Chaozhou lexicon; separate Shantou syllable-table resource
- Notation
- Source phonetic transcription; no shared local romanization imported
Wu 吳語・上海話Reference sources only
The linked university resource documents Shanghai. Wu also includes other local varieties; Shanghai readings should retain that location label when compared with Mandarin or Cantonese.
- Reference variety
- Shanghai
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Eastern Min 閩東語・福州話Reference sources only
Fuzhou is an Eastern Min reference variety. Its dedicated CUHK sound table offers a starting point; other Eastern Min localities need distinct records and source attribution.
- Reference variety
- Fuzhou
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Gan 贛語・南昌話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Nanchang sound table. The broader Gan group contains local differences, so future readings should identify Nanchang or another documented locality explicitly.
- Reference variety
- Nanchang
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Xiang 湘語・長沙話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Changsha sound table. Keep Changsha separate from other Xiang localities when adding readings; the group name does not denote one uniform pronunciation.
- Reference variety
- Changsha
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese
Readings recorded for 髮 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
Kun’yomi · hiragana
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.
Go deeperJisho ↗Wiktionary ↗
Korean 한국어
Hanja readings · Hangul
Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.
Go deeperNaver Hanja ↗Wiktionary ↗
Reading sources explained
- 발
- KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.
Form & structure
Structure & components
2 direct parts- Layout
- top bottom
- Index radical
- 髟 · 190 · 5 residual strokes
髟 is the upper hair-related component, with 犮 underneath. CUHK identifies a phonetic role for 犮 in the later historical form. Do not replace 犮 with the visually similar 友 when inspecting or writing the character.
Follow the recorded parts
- recorded boundary
- recorded boundary
A boundary means no finer analysis is published here; it does not assert an indivisible unit. Radical classification and component structure are separate.
Inspect the component network ↗Writing
15 strokesModern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. [47]
Words & connections
Examples
2 sentences我今天要去理髮。
我今天要去理发。
I am going to get a haircut today.
她的新髮型很好看。
她的新发型很好看。
Her new hairstyle looks good.
Original editorial sentences. Pinyin uses dictionary tones; connected speech may differ.
Connections
0 phonetic neighboursThis pilot does not link this character to a sound (phonetic) family. Explore the other recorded relationships below.
History & distinctions
Etymology & evidence
2 accountsHead and hair in the early forms
CUHK describes bronze forms with a head component and another element whose original role is uncertain. It reports the proposal that this second element abbreviates a phonetic 犮.
The later component arrangement
The entry describes later writing using 髟 in place of the head component and 犮 as phonetic. This historical branch concerns hair and remains distinct from the bow-related discussion of 發.
Reading this character · explanatory note
髮 is the traditional character for hair on the head. It appears in 頭髮, hair, 理髮, haircutting, and 髮型, hairstyle. The common mainland character reading is fà, while Taiwan’s Ministry of Education records fǎ; the mainland word 頭髮 commonly has a neutral final syllable, tóufa. These are pronunciation conventions, not different kinds of hair. Simplified writing uses 发, which also represents the unrelated 發 of verbs such as 發現. That merger makes word context essential. The upper 髟 component offers a useful visual clue, while the older forms are investigated separately in the historical account.
Historical specimens remain at their sources. No dated attestation sequence or licensed specimen image is claimed.
Inspect CUHK’s forms and discussion ↗Forms & distinctions
髮 simplifies to 发, as does 發. Traditional hair words retain 髮: 頭髮, 理髮, 髮型, 白髮. Traditional script does not inherently require the Taiwan pronunciation: mainland and Taiwan Mandarin conventions must be labeled independently of the displayed spelling.
發 is the character in 發生 and 發現. 髮 is hair. They share simplified 发 but remain distinct in traditional writing and in this atlas’s historical model.
The lower component is 犮, not the standalone friendship character 友; pay attention to the additional stroke.
Historical readings
- Middle Chinese
- pjot · 方伐 反切 · #3361
Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.
Source row & reading categories
CSV line 17386 · pjot = 山合三入元幫
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
Sources & research
7 sourcesLocator & rights
Character entry; 形義通解, 繁簡對應, and cited Shuowen discussion where present · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
Release 2026-10-12T08:13:53Z. Exact word-reading locators are retained with each WordRecord. · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
漢語拼音; definition 1 · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
Hanyu Pinyin; Interpretation · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
Row 10: 髮型; ㄈㄚˇ ㄒㄧㄥˊ · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
17.0.0 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
bddc96d41bef78427ed0e034e9f7e31d71fd1b92 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Open research · 2 items
- The function of one early component is explicitly uncertain in the consulted CUHK account.
- Further regional pronunciations and historical loans have not been exhaustively reviewed.
Cited claims compared with the consulted entries; no independent expert review recorded.
Readings across dictionaries
- Hanyu Da Zidian
- fà 74521.120
- Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
- fà 0297.041
- Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
- fà粵faat3