脸 (liǎn): face

Measure Word

一张脸 zhāng

Meanings

1 face

Characters

脸

liǎn

face

Examples

她的脸红了。

Tā de liǎn hóng le.

Her face turned red.

洗脸以后我们就出门。

Xǐ liǎn yǐhòu wǒmen jiù chūmén.

We'll go out after washing our faces.

他脸上有笑容。

Tā liǎn shàng yǒu xiàoróng.

There is a smile on his face.

Tips

culture

面子 ("face") is a core concept in Chinese culture — it represents social reputation and dignity. 丢脸 means to lose face, and 给面子 means to give someone face/respect. Many social interactions are governed by this concept.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

flesh; meat

Meat-flesh radical on the left — visually identical to 月 (moon) but a separate semantic component meaning flesh/body. Indexes 脸 in the body-parts family alongside 胸 (chest), 脚 (foot), 腿 (leg), 肚 (belly), 脑 (brain), 肝 (liver). The face is a fleshy body part, hence ⺼ rather than the moon-月.

phonetic

佥 qiān

all; together (here phonetic)

Right 佥 (simplified from 僉) supplies the sound — qiān drifted to liǎn through a regular Old Chinese alternation. Same phonetic in 检 (inspect), 验 (test), 险 (danger), 剑 (sword). Pure phonetic loan; the 'all together' meaning of 佥 contributes nothing semantic to 'face.'