mặt

From Middle Vietnamese 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”). 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)

Picture dictionary
mặt trán lông mày lông mi mắt mũi lỗ mũi má hàm miệng môi cằm
Click on labels in the image
cơ thể cơ thể

(classifier cái, bộ, gương, khuôn, bản) mặt • (末, 𩈘, 𫖀, 密, 𪾺, 𬰢)

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

   về nhiều mặt ― in many aspects

mặt

1. (archaic) right (of direction)

   Synonym: phải

   tay mặt ― the right hand/arm