方面

Chinese

		square; quadrilateral; place square; quadrilateral; place; region; direction; side; method; way; prescription; power; upright; just	face; side; surface face; side; surface; aspect; top
simp. and trad. (方面)		方	面

Etymology

Attestable in ancient Chinese texts; in the modern sense of "aspect", reborrowing from Japanese 方面(ほうめん) (hōmen).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fāngmiàn

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄤ ㄇㄧㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fong¹ min⁶

• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): fông-mien

  (Meixian, Guangdong): fong¹ miên⁴

• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): hong-bīn / hong-biān

  (Teochew, Peng'im): huang¹ ming⁷

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ¹faon-mi

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fāngmiàn → fāngmian (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄤ ㄇㄧㄢˋ → ㄈㄤ ˙ㄇㄧㄢ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fangmiån
    • Wade–Giles: fang¹-mien⁵
    • Yale: fāng-myan
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fang.miann
    • Palladius: фанмянь (fanmjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɑŋ⁵⁵ mi̯ɛn⁵¹/ → /fɑŋ⁵⁵ mi̯ɛn²/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fāngmiànr
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄤ ㄇㄧㄢˋㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fangmiànr
    • Wade–Giles: fang¹-mien⁴-ʼrh
    • Yale: fāng-myànr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fangmiall
    • Palladius: фанмяньр (fanmjanʹr)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɑŋ⁵⁵ mi̯ɑɻ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fong¹ min⁶
    • Yale: fōng mihn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fong¹ min⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: fong¹ min⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɔːŋ⁵⁵ miːn²²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: fông-mien
    • Hakka Romanization System: fong´ mien
    • Hagfa Pinyim: fong¹ mian⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /foŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ mi̯en⁵⁵/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: fong¹ miên⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /fɔŋ⁴⁴⁻³⁵ miɛn⁵³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hong-bīn
    • Tâi-lô: hong-bīn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hongbin
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /hɔŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ bin³³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hɔŋ³³ bin⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /hɔŋ⁴⁴⁻²² bin²²/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hong-biān
    • Tâi-lô: hong-biān
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hongbien
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /hɔŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ biɛn³³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hɔŋ³³ biɛn⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /hɔŋ⁴⁴⁻²² biɛn²²/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: huang¹ ming⁷
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: huang mīng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /huaŋ³³⁻²³ miŋ¹¹/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ¹faon-mi
    • MiniDict: faon^平 mi
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹faan-mi
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /fɑ̃⁵⁵ mi²¹/

Noun

方面

1. aspect; side; (on the one) hand; facet; respect (Classifier: 個／个 m)

   您覺得我們應該從哪方面入手呢？ [MSC, trad.]
   您觉得我们应该从哪方面入手呢？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nín juéde wǒmen yīnggāi cóng nǎ fāngmiàn rùshǒu ne? [Pinyin]

   Where do you think we should start?

2. (archaic) direction
3. (archaic) one direction
4. (archaic) four directions; all sides; all around
5. (archaic) official post; duty

Usage notes

• It is acceptable to use 方面 (fāngmiàn) both with or without a classifier; both 三方面 (sān fāngmiàn) and 三個方面／三个方面 (sān ge fāngmiàn) are commonly used.
• When using the term with 這／这 (zhè) or 那 (nà), both 這（那）一方面／这（那）一方面 (zhè (nà) yī fāngmiàn) and 這（那）個方面／这（那）个方面 (zhè (nà) ge fāngmiàn) are acceptable constructions, the former being more formal than the latter.
• Unlike in Japanese, 方面 (fāngmiàn) in modern Chinese never conveys the meaning of direction; 方向 (fāngxiàng) is used instead.

Synonyms

• (aspect):

• 側影／侧影 (cèyǐng) (figurative)
• 側面／侧面 (cèmiàn)
• 層面／层面 (céngmiàn)
• 面向 (miànxiàng)

 

Derived terms

• 一方面 (yīfāngmiàn)
• 另一方面 (lìngyīfāngmiàn)
• 單方面／单方面 (dānfāngmiàn)

 

Japanese

Kanji in this term
方	面
ほう Grade: 2	めん Grade: 3
on’yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ほーめ​ん [hòóméꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ho̞ːmẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

方(ほう)面(めん) • (hōmen) 

1. direction
2. area, district
3. field of study, line of work

Synonyms

• (direction): 方向(ほうこう) (hōkō), 方針(ほうしん) (hōshin)
• (area): 地域(ちいき) (chiiki)
• (field): 分野(ぶんや) (bun'ya), 領域(りょういき) (ryōiki)

References

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

Korean

Hanja in this term
方	面

Noun

方面 • (bangmyeon) (hangeul 방면)

1. Hanja form^? of 방면 (“direction; field, area”).

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
方	面

Noun

方面

1. chữ Hán form of phương diện (“aspect; bearing”).