mặt

From Middle Vietnamese 𩈘 (mặt).

Originally meaning “eye” and is the regular descendant of Proto-Vietic *mat (“eye”), further from Proto-Mon-Khmer *mat (“eye”). Related to mắt (“eye”) which appears to reflect a prefixed form of the same root. The semantic change of “eye” > “face” can also be seen in Muong, most dialects of which use a single form, măt, to mean both “eye” and “face”.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [mat̚˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [mak̚˨˩ʔ]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [mak̚˨˩˨]
• Homophone: mặc (southern Vietnamese)

(classifier cái, bộ, gương, khuôn) mặt (末, 牧, 𩈘, 𫖀, 𫆴)

1. face (front part of head)
2. face (facial expression)
3. face (public image)
4. face (geometry: bounding surface of a polyhedron)
5. face (surface, especially a front or outer one)
6. aspect; dimension

mặt

1. (archaic) right (of direction)

   Synonym: phải

   tay mặt

   the right hand/arm