頬

See also 頰, and 颊

Translingual

shinjitai	頬
simplified	颊
traditional	頰

Etymology

Japanese shinjitai Simplified from 頰 (夾 → 夹).

Phono-semantic compound (形聲): phonetic 夹 + semantic 頁 (“head”) – part of the head.

Han character

頬 (radical 181 頁+6, 15 strokes, cangjie input 大廿一月金 (KTMBC))

1. cheeks, jaw

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 1404, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian: not present, would follow volume 7, page 4367, character 16
• Unihan data for U+982C

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Japanese

Kanji

頬 (common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• On: きょう (kyō)
• Kun: ほほ (hoho), ほお (hoo), つら (tsura)

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese.

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ho̞ho̞]

Noun

頬 (hiragana ほほ, romaji hoho)

1. (anatomy) cheek

Etymology 2

[ho̞ho̞] > [ho̞ː]

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ho̞ː]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

頬 (hiragana ほお, romaji hō)

1. (anatomy) cheek

Usage notes

The reading hō is more common when used as a standalone noun.

Etymology 3

Of same origin as 列 (tsura, “a string or lineup of things”). From the meaning of "lineup", used to mean the side of the items lined up. In reference to people, this came to mean the cheeks as the side of the face, and then by extension the face as a whole.

Pronunciation

• IPA: [t͡su͍ɽa̠]

Noun

頬 (hiragana つら, romaji tsura)

1. the cheeks
2. the face (usually written 面)
3. one's facial expression
4. the side of something
5. the surface or front of something
6. one's honor: "face" as in save face or lose face

Alternative forms

• 面

Synonyms

• (face of a person): 顔 (かお, kao)
• (facial expression): 顔つき (かおつき, kaotsuki), 表情 (ひょうじょう, hyōjō)
• (face, front): 面 (おもて, omote)
• (side): 側, 傍ら (かたわら, katawara)
• (surface, front): 表 (おもて, omote)
• (honor): 体面 (たいめん, taimen), 面目 (めんぼく, menboku), 面子 (めんつ, mentsu)

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Korean

Hanja

頬 (hangeul 협, revised hyeop, McCune-Reischauer hyŏp, Yale hyep)

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Mandarin

Hanzi

頬 (pinyin jiá (jia2), tou (tou5), Wade-Giles chia², t'ou⁵)