弁

弁 U+5F01, 弁 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5F01 ← 开 [U+5F00] CJK Unified Ideographs 异 → [U+5F02]

Translingual

Stroke order (Japan)

Japanese	弁 弁 弁
Simplified	辩 辨 瓣
Traditional	辯 辨 瓣

Han character

弁 (Kangxi radical 55, 廾+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 戈廿 (IT) or 難戈廿 (XIT), four-corner 2344₀, composition ⿱厶廾)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 353, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9588
• Dae Jaweon: page 668, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 514, character 7
• Unihan data for U+5F01

Chinese

simp. and trad.		弁
alternative forms		覍

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (弁) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
鴘	*pronʔ, *pʰronʔ
弁	*brons
拚	*pʰaːn, *brons, *pʰaːn, *puns
閞	*brons, *bons
昪	*brons
匥	*brons
笲	*brons, *bon, *bonʔ
軬	*bonʔ
畚	*puːnʔ

Ideogram (指事) : 厶 + 廾: hands (廾) placing a hat (厶) on someone’s head.

Etymology 1

“cap; to wear a cap; low-ranking military officer; to place before or above”

Possibly related to 冕 (OC *mronʔ, “crown”) (Wang, 1982).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): biàn (bian⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄧㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bin⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: biàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄧㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: biàn
    • Wade–Giles: pien⁴
    • Yale: byàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: biann
    • Palladius: бянь (bjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pi̯ɛn⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: bin⁶
    • Yale: bihn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bin⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: bin⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /piːn²²/

---

• Middle Chinese: bjenH

Rime
Character	弁
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	並 (3)
Final (韻)	仙 (79)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	皮變切
Baxter	bjenH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/bˠiᴇnH/
Pan Wuyun	/bᵚiɛnH/
Shao Rongfen	/biænH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/bianH/
Li Rong	/bjɛnH/
Wang Li	/bĭɛnH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/bʱi̯ɛnH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	biàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	bin6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*C.[b]ro[n]-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*brons/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	弁
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	biàn
Middle Chinese	‹ bjenH ›
Old Chinese	/*C.[b]ro[n]-s/
English	cap
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	弁
Reading #	1/1
No.	757
Phonetic component	弁
Rime group	元
Rime subdivision	3
Corresponding MC rime	卞
Old Chinese	/*brons/

Definitions

弁

1. conical cap worn during the Zhou dynasty
2. ^† (of a man) to wear a cap (usually to indicate adulthood)

   • 未幾見兮，突而弁兮。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     未几见兮，突而弁兮。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Wèi jǐ jiàn xī, tū ér biàn xī. [Pinyin]

     When you see him after not a long time, Lo! he is wearing the cap!

3. (historical) low-ranking military officer
4. to place before or above
5. ^† quick; rushed
6. ^† to panic; to shudder
7. ^† Alternative form of 卞 (biàn, “to wrestle with bare hands”)
8. ^† Alternative form of 卞 (Biàn, “a county in Shandong”)
9. a surname

Compounds

• 員弁 / 员弁
• 將弁 / 将弁
• 弁冕
• 弁目
• 弁絰 / 弁绖
• 弁言 (biànyán)
• 弁髦
• 會弁 / 会弁
• 棄如弁髦 / 弃如弁髦
• 武弁
• 爵弁
• 皮弁
• 韋弁 / 韦弁
• 頍弁 / 𫠆弁
• 馬弁 / 马弁

 

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): pán (pan²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄆㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): pun⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: pán
    • Zhuyin: ㄆㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: pán
    • Wade–Giles: pʻan²
    • Yale: pán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: parn
    • Palladius: пань (panʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰän³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: pun⁴
    • Yale: pùhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: pun⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: pun⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰuːn²¹/

Definitions

弁

1. ^† happy

Compounds

• 小弁

 

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of 弁 – see 辯 (“to debate; to argue; to discuss”). (This character is the second-round simplified form of 辯).

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

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of 弁 – see 辨 (“to distinguish; to discriminate; to prepare; to equip; etc.”). (This character is the second-round simplified form of 辨).

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

Etymology 5

For pronunciation and definitions of 弁 – see 辮 (“braid; plait; braid-like object”). (This character is the second-round simplified form of 辮).

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

Japanese

Kanji

弁

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

1. hat

Readings

• On (unclassified): べん (ben, Jōyō)
• Kun: かんむり (kanmuri, 弁)

Usage notes

In Japan, this character is shinjitai of 3 characters, 辨, 瓣, 辯. Furthermore, in modern usage, this character is used to replace 辮 and 辦.

Kanji

Shinjitai	弁
Kyūjitai	辨

弁

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 辨)

1. to distinguish

Readings

• Go-on: べん (ben, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: へん (hen)
• Kun: わきまえる (wakimaeru, 弁える)、わける (wakeru, 弁ける)

Kanji

Shinjitai	弁
Kyūjitai	瓣

弁

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 瓣)

1. petal
2. valve

Readings

• Go-on: べん (ben, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: はん (han)
• Kun: はなびら (hanabira)

Compounds

• 花(か)弁(べん) (kaben, “petal”)

Kanji

Shinjitai	弁
Kyūjitai	辯

弁

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 辯)

1. speech

Readings

• On (unclassified): べん (ben, Jōyō)
• Kun: とく (toku, 弁く)、かたる (kataru, 弁る)

Compounds

• 関(かん)西(さい)弁(べん) (Kansai-ben, “Kansai dialect”)
• 弁(べん)護(ご)士(し) (bengoshi, “attorney”)

Kanji

Shinjitai (extended)	弁
Kyūjitai	辮

弁

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 辮)

1. Extended shinjitai form of 辮

Readings

• On (unclassified): べん (ben, Jōyō)、へん (hen)
• Kun: あむ (amu, 弁む)

Compounds

• 弁(べん)髪(ぱつ) (benpatsu)

Kanji

Shinjitai (extended)	弁
Kyūjitai	辦

弁

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 辦)

1. Extended shinjitai form of 辦

Readings

• On (unclassified): べん (ben, Jōyō)、はん (han)
• Kun: つとめる (tsutomeru, 弁める)

Compounds

• 買(ばい)弁(べん) (baiben)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
弁
べん Grade: 5
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
辨 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese 辨 (MC bjenX|beanH).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

弁(べん) • (ben) 

1. discrimination

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
弁
べん Grade: 5
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
瓣 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese 瓣 (MC beanH).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

弁(べん) • (ben) 

1. petal
2. valve

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
弁
べん Grade: 5
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
辯 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese 辯 (MC bjenX).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bẽ̞ɴ]

Suffix

弁(べん) • (-ben) 

1. dialect

   彼(かの)女(じょ)はコテコテの関(かん)西(さい)弁(べん)を話(はな)す。

   Kanojo wa kotekote no Kansaiben o hanasu.

   She speaks Kansai dialect with a strong accent.

See also

• Category:Regional Japanese
• 方言(ほうげん) (hōgen, “dialect”)

Korean

Hanja

弁 • (byeon, ban) (hangeul 변, 반, revised byeon, ban, McCune–Reischauer pyŏn, pan, Yale pyen, pan)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

弁: Hán Nôm readings: biền, biện

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.