弁

弁	U+5F01, 弁 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5F01

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CJK Unified Ideographs

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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	/bˠiᴇn^H/
Pan Wuyun	/bᵚiɛn^H/
Shao Rongfen	/biæn^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/bian^H/
Li Rong	/bjɛn^H/
Wang Li	/bĭɛn^H/
Bernard Karlgren	/bʱi̯ɛn^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	biàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	bin⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*C.ro-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*brons/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	弁
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	biàn
Middle Chinese	‹ bjen^H ›
Old Chinese	/*C.ro-s/
English	cap
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * 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

conical cap worn during the Zhou dynasty
^† (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.
  When you see him after not a long time, Lo! he is wearing the cap!
(historical) low-ranking military officer
to place before or above
^† quick; rushed
^† to panic; to shudder
^† Alternative form of 卞 (biàn, “to wrestle with bare hands”)
^† Alternative form of 卞 (Biàn, “a county in Shandong”)
a surname

Compounds

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

^† 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

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

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

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 辨)

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

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 瓣)

petal
valve

Readings

Compounds

花(か)弁(べん) (kaben, “petal”)

Kanji

Shinjitai	弁
Kyūjitai	辯

弁

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 辯)

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

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 辮)

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

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 辦)

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):

Noun

弁(べん) • (ben)

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):

Noun

弁(べん) • (ben)

petal
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):

Suffix

弁(べん) • (-ben)

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.

Korean

Hanja

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

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Vietnamese

Han character

弁: Hán Nôm readings: biền, biện

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