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I have seen both used like 笑颜 and 笑顔 to mean smile (noun). afaik both are pronouced as えがお (somebody correct me if I'm wrong, ビギナーだ).

So what exactly is the difference?

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2 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

I think 颜 is the simplified Chinese form of 顔, and that it generally is only used in simplified Chinese (and that it isn't really used in Japanese), but they both have the same meaning.

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up vote 3 down vote

If this is a handwritten form, as far as I know 颜 could also be used in Japanese, just as 门 (for 門) is used in Japanese handwriting. But if it is a printed form it is definitely Simplified Chinese.

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I've never actually seen 门 used in written Japanese, though when writing 門 quickly (and messily =)) it may start to look like something similar. – rintaun Apr 27 '12 at 14:08
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@rintaun I have ever seen it a lot and actually write it sometimes. It is very common. – Gradius Aug 7 '12 at 8:01

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