The usage of sanpaku

Do post #3842099 or post #3634129 qualify as sanpaku? I thought yes, but after seeing @yelite remove that tag from these posts and similar and asking them about it, it seems that term only applies when up to three parts of the eye are visible, and not when the iris is at the center of the eye for example.

How should we tag these eyes then? A lot of users use sanpaku that way - see for example post #3803206 - that's a popular character with commonly understood "sanpaku" eyes, but according to the literal definition the tag would not apply.

There's wide-eyed, but the name makes me think of the tag being associated with emotions (shock, fear, etc), not for when the character's iris is naturally small and the eye is not "wide open".

It seems like some people have used "yonhaku-kan" (四白眼; as opposed to sanpaku-kan) to refer to irises surrounded on all sides by whites. It's a pretty niche term as it's mostly inapplicable outside of artwork, but if there's demand for it, we could start a yonhaku tag.

feline_lump said:

It seems like some people have used "yonhaku-kan" (四白眼; as opposed to sanpaku-kan) to refer to irises surrounded on all sides by whites. It's a pretty niche term as it's mostly inapplicable outside of artwork, but if there's demand for it, we could start a yonhaku tag.

According Pixiv, "四白眼" is pronounced "しはくがん" / "shihakugan", not "yonhaku-kan", but it appears to be a nonce word coined on the site. It doesn't appear in actual dictionaries, whereas "三白眼" / "sanpakugan" does. Some definitions appear to explicitly say three sides of the eye (specifically the left, right, and bottom) show white. Other definitions simply say "a lot of the white of the eye" is visible.

I'd be in favor of us using the sanpaku tag for both three sides white (the literal breakdown of the word), as well as four sides white, rather than coining a new term for it. If we do coin a new tag, we should use Pixiv's example and call it shihaku or shihakugan

Shinjidude said:

According Pixiv, "四白眼" is pronounced "しはくがん" / "shihakugan", not "yonhaku-kan", but it appears to be a nonce word coined on the site. It doesn't appear in actual dictionaries, whereas "三白眼" / "sanpakugan" does. Some definitions appear to explicitly say three sides of the eye (specifically the left, right, and bottom) show white. Other definitions simply say "a lot of the white of the eye" is visible.

I'd be in favor of us using the sanpaku tag for both three sides white (the literal breakdown of the word), as well as four sides white, rather than coining a new term for it. If we do coin a new tag, we should use Pixiv's example and call it shihaku or shihakugan

My bad on that count - I was seeing the term appear in Google results and couldn't find sources for it. Since it's an art-related neologism, I think it would fall under Danbooru's interests to cover it, but it depends on whether people find it to be sufficiently distinct (similar to how we have a whole cluster of eye types adjacent to o_o).

I prefer making new tag for this iris-at-center eyes.

Using three-white tag for four-side-white is like using triangle to tag "square". Feel weird.

I'm not sure which tag name to choose though.

I don't feel super strongly against adding shihaku, I just don't see a huge need to do so either. If people would find utility in it, we can write up a wiki and start using it. Just know that it doesn't appear to be a well established concept.

I don't feel the point in adding a new tag either when sanpaku is widely used for the classic fish eyes too. See also topic #11181.

To me this tag is about the position of the iris (take up the forth-side part) tho. When using three-white I was looking for picture where the eye take up the "forth side" like this post #743063 post #2304851 post #3653446 post #2154844 not simply for any normal, sideways glance, wide-eyed, half-closed_eyes "small iris eyes" posts.

If you insist to use it that way then go ahead tho. I don't feel strongly keeping up like this.

yelite said:

To me this tag is about the position of the iris (take up the forth-side part) tho. When using three-white I was looking for picture where the eye take up the "forth side" like this post #743063 post #2304851 post #3653446 post #2154844 not simply for any normal, sideways glance, wide-eyed, half-closed_eyes "small iris eyes" posts.

If you insist to use it that way then go ahead tho. I don't feel strongly keeping up like this.

Are you sure you're not looking for upturned_eyes?

All of your examples fail to capture the "dangerous" or "psycho" nuance that is an important part of most "sanpaku" definitions, the usage is more than just a physical description (which is why I think 4 sides being white still fits close enough if it carries the other nuances).

Of the posts you mention only post #2304851 should be sanpaku in my opinion since it's part of the character's default design, all of them look like they could appropriately be upturned_eyes.

I think the softer expressions you're looking for should actually almost always be explicitly excluded from sanpaku, as the use case is entirely different. It's similar to the reason we keep fang (cute/playful) and fangs (scary/dangerous) as separate tags.

In the case of upturned_eyes it pretty much physically can only be three sides white since the iris follows the upper eyelid when you look up.