面子

Chinese

Etymology 1

		face; side; surface face; side; surface; aspect; top	child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight
simp. and trad. (面子)		面	子

Wikipedia has articles on:

面子 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
Face (social concept) (English)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): miànzi

(Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄢˋ ˙ㄗ
Cantonese (Jyutping): min⁶ zi²
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mien-chṳ́
Eastern Min (BUC): méng-cṳ̄
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bīn-chú / bīn-chír / bīn-chí / biān-chú / biān-chír

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: miànzi
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄢˋ ˙ㄗ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: miànzi̊h
  - Wade–Giles: mien⁴-tzŭ⁵
  - Yale: myàn-dz
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: miann.tzy
  - Palladius: мяньцзы (mjanʹczy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi̯ɛn⁵¹ d͡z̥z̩¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: min⁶ zi²
  - Yale: mihn jí
  - Cantonese Pinyin: min⁶ dzi²
  - Guangdong Romanization: min⁶ ji²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /miːn²² t͡siː³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mien-chṳ́
  - Hakka Romanization System: mien zii^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: mian⁴ zi³
  - Sinological IPA: /mi̯en⁵⁵ t͡sɨ³¹/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: méng-cṳ̄
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /miŋ²¹³⁻⁵³ ^(t͡s-)ʒy³³/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bīn-chú
  - Tâi-lô: bīn-tsú
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bixnzuo
  - IPA (Philippines): /bin⁴¹⁻²² t͡su⁵⁵⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bin³³⁻¹¹ t͡su⁵³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /bin²²⁻²¹ t͡su⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bin³³⁻²¹ t͡su⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bīn-chír
  - Tâi-lô: bīn-tsír
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /bin⁴¹⁻²² t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bīn-chí
  - Tâi-lô: bīn-tsí
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bixncie
  - IPA (Philippines): /bin⁴¹⁻²² t͡si⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, variant in Taiwan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: biān-chú
  - Tâi-lô: biān-tsú
  - Phofsit Daibuun: biexnzuo
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /biɛn³³⁻²¹ t͡su⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /biɛn³³⁻¹¹ t͡su⁵³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /biɛn²²⁻²¹ t͡su⁵³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: biān-chír
  - Tâi-lô: biān-tsír
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /biɛn⁴¹⁻²² t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴/

Noun

面子

outer part; outside; face
reputation; face; self-respect
愛面子／爱面子 ― ài miànzǐ ― to be sensitive about one's reputation

挽回面子 ― wǎnhuí miànzi ― to save face
feelings; sensibilities
給他留面子／给他留面子 ― gěi tā liú miànzǐ ― to spare his feelings

Synonyms

(outer part): 面兒／面儿 (miànr), 一層／一层 (yīcéng)
(reputation):

Dialectal synonyms of 面目 (“dignity; reputation; face”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		面目, 面子, 體面, 顏面, 臉面, 臉子
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	面子
	Malaysia	臉, 面子
	Singapore	面子
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	面子
Cantonese	Guangzhou	面
	Hong Kong	面, 面子
	Singapore (Guangfu)	面
Southern Min	Xiamen	面子, 面皮
	Quanzhou	面皮
	Zhangzhou	面皮
	Penang (Hokkien)	面, 面皮
	Singapore (Hokkien)	面, 面皮
	Manila (Hokkien)	面, 面子, 面皮
	Singapore (Teochew)	面皮
Wu	Shanghai	面子

(feelings): 臉皮／脸皮 (liǎnpí), 人情 (rénqíng), 情面 (qíngmiàn)

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Japanese: 面(メン)子(ツ) (mentsu)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 面子 – see 麵子 (“fine powder”). (This term is the simplified form of 麵子).
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 in this term
面	子
メン Grade: 3	ツ Grade: 1
irregular

For pronunciation and definitions of 面子 – see the following entry.

【メンツ】

[noun] face (reputation)

[noun] (mahjong) player

[noun] participant, member

(This term, 面子, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)