辺

See also: 道, 邊, 邉, and 边

辺 U+8FBA, 辺 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8FBA ← 边 [U+8FB9] CJK Unified Ideographs 辻 → [U+8FBB]

Translingual

Traditional	邊
Shinjitai	辺
Simplified	边

Han character

辺 (radical 162, 辵+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 卜尸竹 (YSH), four-corner 3730₂, composition ⿺⻌刀)

Derived characters

• 𬵑

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 1253, character 13
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 38710
• Dae Jaweon: page 1735, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 6, page 3815, character 5
• Unihan data for U+8FBA

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Chinese

Glyph origin

Etymology 1: Simplified from 道, where the original phonetic component 首 (OC *hljuʔ, *hljus) was replaced with the more apparent and less complicated phonetic component 刀 (dāo).

Etymology 1

For pronunciation and definitions of 辺 – see 道 (“way; path; road; etc.”). (This character, 辺, is the second-round simplified form of 道.)

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 辺 – see 邊 (“edge; border; side; border; boundary; etc.”). (This character, 辺, is a variant form of 邊.)

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Japanese

Shinjitai	辺
Kyūjitai	邊

Kanji

辺

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 邊)

Readings

• Go-on: へん (hen, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: へん (hen, Jōyō)
• Kun: あたり (atari, 辺り, Jōyō); べ (be, 辺, Jōyō); へ (he, 辺); へた (heta, 辺); へち (hechi); ほとり (hotori, 辺)
• Nanori: なべ (nabe)

Compounds

Compounds

• 海(うみ)辺(べ) (umibe), 海辺(かいへん) (kaihen)
• 近辺(きんぺん) (kinpen)
• 君辺(くんぺん) (kunpen): vicinity of a lord
• 周辺(しゅうへん) (shūhen)
• 辺境(へんきょう) (henkyō)
• 辺鄙(へんぴ) (henpi)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
辺
へん Grade: 4
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
邊 (kyūjitai)

/pen/ → /fen/ → /hen/

From Middle Chinese 邊 (MC pen, “edge; margin, border; nearby, vicinity”).

Pronunciation 1

• On’yomi
• (Tokyo) へん [hèń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [hẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

辺(へん) • (hen)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. (colloquial) place, general area, vicinity

   彼(かれ)はその辺(へん)にいるはずだ。

   Kare wa sono hen ni iru hazu da.

   He must be there or somewhere.

Pronunciation 2

• On’yomi
• (Tokyo) へ​ん [héꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [hẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

辺(へん) • (hen)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. (geometry) the joining line between two vertices of a polygon; edge, [side]
2. (graph theory) any of the connected pairs of the vertices in a graph; edge

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
辺
へ Grade: 4
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
邊 (kyūjitai)

/pe₁/ → /pe/ → /fe/ → /he/

From Old Japanese. The root of the modern Japanese directional particle へ (e).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) へ​ [héꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [he̞]

• This pitch accent pattern only applies to the noun sense.

Alternative forms

• 方

Noun

辺(へ) • (he)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. place, general area, vicinity

Suffix

辺(へ) • (-he)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. (obsolete) place, general area, vicinity

Usage notes

The suffix sense underwent phonological changes, with the reading shifting to either e or be. See also be below.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 家(いえ) (ie): home, abode, house
• 古(いにしえ) (inishie): a long time ago
• 沖(おき)辺(へ) (okihe): offshore, the open ocean
• 末(すえ)辺(へ) (suehe): the area towards the end of something; the area near the summit of a mountain
• 前(まえ) (mae): front; forward
• 本(もと)辺(へ) (motohe): the area towards the beginning of something; the area near the base or foothills of a mountain
• 行(ゆく)方(え) (yukue): one's destination, one's whereabouts
• 後(しり)方(え) (shirie): back; backward

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
辺
べ Grade: 4
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
邊 (kyūjitai)

/pe₁/ → /pe/ → /be/

From Old Japanese, from pe above. The he changes to be as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• IPA^(key): [be̞]

Alternative forms

• 方

Suffix

辺(べ) • (-be)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. place, general area, vicinity

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 天(あま)辺(べ) (amabe)
• 海(うみ)辺(べ) (umibe)
• 岡(おか)辺(べ) (okabe)
• 沖(おき)方(べ) (okibe): offshore, the open ocean
• 上(かみ)辺(べ) (kamibe)
• 川(かわ)辺(べ) (kawabe)
• 岸(きし)辺(べ) (kishibe)
• 下(しも)辺(べ) (shimobe)

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
辺
へた Grade: 4
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
邊 (kyūjitai)

From Old Japanese. Originally a compound of 辺 (he, “vicinity”, see he above) +‎ た (ta, “place, area”, the same ta element in 貴方 anata, now “you” in modern Japanese but previously meaning “that one over there”).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• IPA^(key): [he̞ta̠]

Alternative forms

• 端

Noun

辺(へた) • (heta)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. (obsolete) the area near something or along the edge of something

Suffix

辺(へた) • (-heta)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. the area near something or along the edge of something

Usage notes

In modern Japanese, this changes phonologically into either /-ppeta/ or /-beta/.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 尻(しり)べた (shiribeta): the butt, the rounded area of one's posterior
• 尻(しり)っぺた (shirippeta): (emphatic) the butt, the rounded area of one's posterior
• 頬(ほ)っ辺(ぺた) (hoppeta): the area around the cheeks

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
辺
へち Grade: 4
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
邊 (kyūjitai)

From at least the late Heian period. Originally a compound of 辺 (he, “vicinity”, see he above) +‎ ち (chi, “area?”, the same chi element used to indicate general area in こち kochi, “around here, this area” and related words).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) へち​ [hèchíꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [he̞t͡ɕi]

Alternative forms

• 端

Noun

辺(へち) • (hechi)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. (obsolete) the area near something or along the edge of something

Synonyms

• 縁(ふち) (fuchi)
• 外(はず)れ (hazure)
• 辺(ほとり) (hotori) (see below)

Etymology 6

Kanji in this term
辺
ほとり Grade: 4
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
邊 (kyūjitai)

From at least the Heian period. Appears to be a compound or conjugation, but the ultimate derivation is unknown.

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) ほとり [hòtórí] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) ほとり​ [hòtóríꜜ] (Odaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ho̞to̞ɾʲi]

Alternative forms

• 畔

Noun

辺(ほとり) • (hotori)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. the area near something or along the edge of something
2. those people who are close to someone in terms of social relationships

Etymology 7

Kanji in this term
辺
なべ Grade: 4
Irregular

Alternative spelling
邊 (kyūjitai)

Appears to be a compound of な (na, alternative form of の no, the possessive particle) +‎ 辺 (be, “vicinity”, see be above).

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [na̠be̞]

Suffix

辺(なべ) • (-nabe)  (kyūjitai 邊)

1. vicinity, area

Usage notes

Only found in names.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 川(かわ)辺(なべ) (Kawanabe): a place in Kagoshima Prefecture
• 神(かん)辺(なべ) (Kannabe): a place in Hiroshima Prefecture
• 田(た)辺(なべ) (Tanabe): a surname; a place in Wakayama Prefecture; a place in Kyoto Prefecture
• 渡(わた)辺(なべ) (Watanabe): a surname