Meaning & readings
face, expression
Origin
The character 顔 combines two parts: on the left is 彦, which suggests the meaning of a person or face, and on the right is 頁, a component that indicates this character relates to the head and provides a sound hint for pronunciation. The 頁 component, which depicts the head, also serves as a classifier showing that 顔 belongs to words about the head and facial features. Together, these components create a character whose shape conveys the idea of a person's face or expression.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).
Components
- 彦
- 頁
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 18
- Kangxi radical
- 181
- Grade
- Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #676 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+09854