不

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See also: 唔

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
不-order.gif
Stroke order
不-bw.png

Etymology[edit]

不 不 不 不
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Large seal script Small seal script

Pictogram (象形)

The character 不 originated as a pictograph of the calyx of a flower. It was then composed into a phono-semantic character with the pictograph for mouth (口 ), to form 否, representing "no", negation. This composed meaning then spread back to the original character 不, making it a synonym of 否. A new character of 柎 was eventually created to represent the original meaning of calyx.

A seed under the ground (一) with roots at the bottom. Original form of 胚, embryo. In some form of the large seal script, the character is inside another element, probably a womb. The seed has been linked to the meaning of negation by saying that the root is the unwanted part of the plant. But the current meaning comes from sound loan.

Karlgren and Weiger interpret it as a bird flying toward the sky (一). The sky being the limit for the bird, thus the idea of negation.

References[edit]

  • "不" (in Mandarin), 字源. URL accessed on 2014-02-24.
  • Richard Sears, "不" (in English/Mandarin), Chinese Etymology. URL accessed on 2014-02-24.

Han character[edit]

不 (radical 1 一+3, 4 strokes, cangjie input 一火 (MF), four-corner 10900)

Descendants[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • KangXi: page 76, character 15
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19
  • Dae Jaweon: page 149, character 4
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 11, character 6
  • Unihan data for U+4E0D

Chinese[edit]

-
simp. and trad.
 不

Pronunciation[edit]

Middle Chinese pronunciation (不, reconstructed)
Character (不), Pronunciation 1/4

Initial: 幫 (1)
Final: 尤
Division: III

Openness: Open
Tone: Level (Ø)

 Fanqie: 甫鳩切
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 Bernard
Karlgren		 Li
Rong		 Pan
Wuyun		 Edwin
Pulleyblank		 Wang
Li		 Shao
Rongfen
/pɨu/ /pi̯ə̯u/ /piu/ /piu/ /puw/ /pĭəu/ /piəu/
Character (不), Pronunciation 2/4

Initial: 幫 (1)
Final: 尤
Division: III

Openness: Open
Tone: Rising (X)

 Fanqie: 方久切
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 Bernard
Karlgren		 Li
Rong		 Pan
Wuyun		 Edwin
Pulleyblank		 Wang
Li		 Shao
Rongfen
/pɨuX/ /pi̯ə̯uX/ /piuX/ /piuX/ /puwX/ /pĭəuX/ /piəuX/
Character (不), Pronunciation 3/4

Initial: 幫 (1)
Final: 物
Division: III

Openness: Closed
Tone: Checked (Ø)

 Fanqie: 分勿切
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 Bernard
Karlgren		 Li
Rong		 Pan
Wuyun		 Edwin
Pulleyblank		 Wang
Li		 Shao
Rongfen
/pɨut̚/ /pi̯uət̚/ /piuət̚/ /piut̚/ /put̚/ /pĭuət̚/ /piuət̚/
Character (不), Pronunciation 4/4

Initial: 幫 (1)
Final: 沒
Division: I

Openness: Closed
Tone: Checked (Ø)
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 Bernard
Karlgren		 Li
Rong		 Pan
Wuyun		 Edwin
Pulleyblank		 Wang
Li		 Shao
Rongfen
/puət̚/ /puət̚/ /puət̚/ /puot̚/ /pwət̚/ /puət̚/ /puət̚/
Old Chinese pronunciation (不, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character Modern Beijing
(Pinyin)		 Middle Chinese Old Chinese English
不 bù ‹ pjuw › /*pə/ not
不 bù ‹ pjuw › /*pə/ 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn)

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system:

  • Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
  • Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
  • Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
  • Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;
  • Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character No. Phonetic
component		 Rime
group		 Rime
subdivision		 Corresponding
MC rime		 Old Chinese Notes
不 1025 不 之 0 不 /*pɯ/
不 1029 不 之 0 缶 /*pɯʔ/ 象花柎與本同源
不 1048 不 物 1 弗 /*pɯ'/ 中古才促化

Definitions[edit]

不

  1. not
    • John 1.5
      光照在黑暗里，黑暗却不接受光。
      Guāng zhào zaì hēiàn lǐ, hēi'àn què bù jiēshòu guāng.
      And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
    我不是日本人。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
    Wǒ bù shì rìběnrén. [Pinyin]
    I am not Japanese.
    這個不好。 [MSC, trad.]
    这个不好。 [MSC, simp.]
    Zhège bù hǎo. [Pinyin]
    This is not good.
  2. no
    你是日本人嗎？不是。 [MSC, trad.]
    你是日本人吗？不是。 [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ shì rìběnrén ma? Bù shì. [Pinyin]
    “Are you Japanese? No.”

Usage notes[edit]

  • The tone changes from fourth to second tone when followed by a fourth-tone syllable.
  • When negating the verb 有 (to have), 沒／没 (Cantonese: 冇) is used instead of 不.
  • The word no does not have a translation in Chinese. To awser no to a yes/no question ( either "affirmative-negative questions" (正反問句/正反问句) or 嗎／吗 question) , you have to use the verb of the question in negative form, i.e. preceded by 不 (or by 沒／没 in the case of 有).
    你認識他嗎？／你認識不認識他？不認識 [MSC, trad.]
    你认识他吗？／你认识不认识他？不认识 [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ rènshí tā ma? ／ Nǐ rènshí bù rènshí tā? Bù rènshí [Pinyin]
    Do you know him? No.
    If there is no verb to negate in the context, 不是 is used.
    No can be translated by 否 alone but this is formal and not standard Chinese.

Synonyms[edit]

  • 沒／没 used to negate 有
  • 否 no (formal)
  • 不是 no (as answer of a yes/no question)
  • 勿 ("do not"; dialectal "not")

Antonyms[edit]

  • 是 yes (as answer to a question)

Prefix[edit]

不

  1. un-; negation prefix
    不幸 unfortunate; 不安 unpeaceful

Synonyms[edit]

  • 無／无 (prefix) without, -less

See also[edit]

Compounds[edit]

Derived terms

Derived terms[edit]

Japanese[edit]

Kanji[edit]

See also:
不

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. not, non-, un-

Readings[edit]

Compounds[edit]

Compounds

Prefix[edit]

不 (hiragana ふ, romaji fu-)

  1. un-, non-, in-

不 (hiragana ぶ, romaji bu-)

  1. un-, non-, in-
  2. bad, poor

Korean[edit]

Hanja[edit]

不 (bu, bul, bi)
Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul): 부, 불, 비 (revised: bu, bul, bi, McCune-Reischauer: pu, pul, pi, Yale: pwu, pwu, pi)
  • Name (hangeul): 아닐, 아닐, 클 (revised: anil, anil, keul, McCune-Reischauer: anil, anil, k'ǔl, Yale: anil, anil, khul)
  1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

References[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Han character[edit]

不 (bất, phầu, phủ, phi)

  1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

Readings[edit]

References[edit]

  • Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
  • Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
  • Vũ Văn Kính: Đại Tự Điển Chữ Nôm , NXB Văn Nghệ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
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