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): ㄈㄤㄇㄧㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): fong¹ min⁶
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): fông-mien

(Meixian, Guangdong): fong¹ miên⁴
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): horng¹ meng⁴
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): hong-bīn / hong-biān

(Teochew, Peng'im): huang¹ ming⁷
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹faon-mi

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: fāngmiàn → fāngmian (toneless final syllable variant)
  - Zhuyin: ㄈㄤㄇㄧㄢˋ → 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: ㄈㄤㄇㄧㄢˋㄦ
  - 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 Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: fông-mien
  - Hakka Romanization System: fong^ˊ mien
  - Hagfa Pinyim: fong¹ mian⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /foŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ mi̯en⁵⁵/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: fong¹ miên⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /fɔŋ⁴⁴⁻³⁵ miɛn⁵³/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: horng¹ meng⁴ [Phonetic: horng² meng⁴]
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: ho̤ng-me̍ng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɒŋ⁵³³⁻¹³ mɛŋ⁴²/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: horng¹ meng⁴ [Phonetic: horng² meng⁴]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɒŋ⁵⁴⁴⁻²⁴ mɛŋ⁴²/
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
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹faon-mi
  - MiniDict: faon^平 mi
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹faan-mi
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /fɑ̃⁵⁵ mi²¹/

Noun

方面

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?
(archaic) direction
(archaic) one direction
(archaic) four directions; all sides; all around
(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):

edit

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)

direction
area, district
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)

hanja form^? of 방면 (“direction; field, area”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
方	面

Noun

方面

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