辺

See also: 邊, 邉, and 边

Translingual

Traditional	邊
Shinjitai	辺
Simplified	边

Han character

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

Derived characters

• 𬵑

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: 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 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; side; margin; brim; decorative border; etc.”). (This character 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

Noun

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

Noun

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

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

Alternative forms

• 方

Noun

1. place, general area, vicinity

Suffix

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).

Alternative forms

• 方

Suffix

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”).

Alternative forms

• 端

Noun

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

Suffix

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).

Alternative forms

• 端

Noun

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.

Alternative forms

• 畔

Noun

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).

Suffix

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