颜 (yán) — (bound form) face; countenance; facial expression; (bound form) prestige; dignity (social face)
Definition
颜 is a bound morpheme meaning 'face' or 'countenance', almost always appearing in compounds like 容颜 or 颜面. It is more literary than 脸 (everyday 'face') and overlaps with 面 in formal 'face/dignity' senses (e.g. 颜面).
bound form
facecountenancefacial expressionprestigedignity (social face)
Easily confused
- 言yánsound-alikespeech, word, talk (bound form in compounds related to language and communication)
- 盐yánsound-alikesalt
- 岩yánsound-alikerock; cliff (used as a bound morpheme in place names and compound words)
- 严yánsound-alikestrict, stern, severe
- 延yánsound-aliketo extend; to prolong (in time or length)
- 沿yánsound-alike(preposition) along
Examples
- 颜。Tā jiàn dào kè rén zǒng shì xiào zhú yán kāi.She always beams with joy when seeing guests.
- 。Tā wèi le wéi hù yán miàn shuō le huǎng.He lied to maintain his dignity.
- 。Tā dài rén zǒng shì hé yán yuè sè.She always treats people with a gracious smile.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 顏; 颜 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
彥
彥yàn顏⁰yán
Same sound today
The traditional form 顏, not the simplified 颜, pairs 彥 as a sound part with 頁, a head, for face or countenance.
Appears in
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