粉

Translingual

Han character

粉 (Kangxi radical 119, 米+4, 10 strokes, cangjie input 火木金尸竹 (FDCSH), four-corner 9892₇, composition ⿰米分)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 907, character 16
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 26872
• Dae Jaweon: page 1332, character 33
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3143, character 7
• Unihan data for U+7C89

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 粉
Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pɯnʔ) : semantic 米 (“rice”) + phonetic 分 (OC *pɯn, *bɯns) – face powder made of rice.

Etymology 1

The earliest sense is believed to be "face powder". The term is then used for the color of this powder, "white", and later also the color of a face with this cosmetic, "pink". In early modern Chinese, the ancient "face powder" sense is partly reinforced by 粉底 (fěndǐ) (from English foundation). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Definitions

粉

1. powder

   麵粉是小麥做的粉。 [MSC, trad.]
   面粉是小麦做的粉。 [MSC, simp.]

   Miànfěn shì xiǎomài zuò de fěn.

   Flour is a powder made from wheat.

   1. face powder

      粉墨登場／粉墨登场  ―  fěnmòdēngchǎng  ―  to go on the stage

   2. flour
   3. (Cantonese, slang) heroin
2. ^† (ergative) to powder

   粉碎  ―  fěnsuì  ―  to smash

   粉身碎骨  ―  fěnshēn-suìgǔ  ―  to have one's body smashed to pieces

   • 一門二世，粉骨衛主。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     一门二世，粉骨卫主。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Southern Qi, by Xiao Zixian, 6^th century CE

     Yī mén èr shì, fěn gǔ wèi zhǔ.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. (color)
   1. (～色) pink

      我把頭髮染成了粉的。 [MSC, trad.]
      我把头发染成了粉的。 [MSC, simp.]

      Wǒ bǎ tóufà rǎn chéng le fěn de.

      I dyed my hair pink.

   2. ^⁜ white

      粉壁  ―  fěnbì  ―  white wall

      粉飾／粉饰  ―  fěnshì  ―  to whitewash

4. (dialectal) to whitewash
5. (food)
   1. food made from starch or flour (noodles, vermicelli, etc.)

      粉條／粉条  ―  fěntiáo  ―  Chinese vermicelli

      涼粉／凉粉  ―  liángfěn  ―  grass jelly

      河粉  ―  héfěn  ―  he fen noodles

   2. bean or sweet potato noodles

Usage notes

• 粉 (fěn) and 麵／面 (miàn):

  As cereal food, generally 粉 is something made from rice while 麵 is from wheat. But this is not a strict distinction. The two characters are usually not interchangeable when referring to a specific kind of noodles.

Synonyms

• (powder):

• (flour):

• (heroin):

• (pink):

Descendants

Etymology 2

Short for 粉絲／粉丝 (fěnsī), from English fans.

Definitions

粉

1. fan; fanatic

   明粉  ―  Míng fěn  ―  fan of the Ming dynasty

   川粉  ―  chuānfěn  ―  fan of Donald Trump

   米粉  ―  mǐfěn  ―  fan of Xiaomi

2. (Internet, neologism, slang) follower on a social media platform; subscriber
3. (transitive) to be a fan of (a person, a group, etc.); to admire

Compounds

References

• “粉”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. powder

Readings

• Go-on: ふん (fun, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: ふん (fun, Jōyō)
• Kun: こ (ko, 粉, Jōyō); こな (kona, 粉, Jōyō)

Compounds

Etymology 1

⟨ko₁⟩ → */kwo/ → /ko/

From Old Japanese. Used phonetically to spell ko in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こ​ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

粉(こ) • (ko) 

1. powder
2. flour

Usage notes

This reading remains in compounds and in certain set phrases. Use as a standalone noun began disappearing from the late 1600s in preference for the bisyllabic, and less ambiguous, kona reading.

Etymology 2

Appears to be 粉 (ko, “powder”, see above) +‎ な (-na, suffixing element, meaning unclear).

First cited to 1683.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こな​ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

粉(こな) • (kona) 

1. powder
2. flour

Usage notes

This reading began to replace the monosyllabic ko reading from the late 1600s, likely due to sound shifts and the resulting ambiguity of monosyllabic words. Compare also ancient 足 (a) and modern 足 (ashi), ancient 羽 (ha) and modern 羽 (hane).

Synonyms

• パウダー (paudā)

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 粉 (MC pjunX). Recorded as Middle Korean 분〮 (pwún) (Yale: pwún) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Pronunciation

• (powder; etc.):
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
  • Phonetic hangul:
• (in 분홍 (粉紅, bunhong)):
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
  • Phonetic hangul:
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

粉

Wikisource

粉 (eumhun 가루 분 (garu bun))

1. Hanja form^? of 분 (“powder”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

粉: Hán Nôm readings: phấn

1. chữ Hán form of phấn (“powder”).

References