婢

婢 U+5A62, 婢 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5A62 ← 婡 [U+5A61] CJK Unified Ideographs 婣 → [U+5A63]

婢 U+FA80, 婢 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-FA80 ← 奔 [U+FA7F] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 嬨 → [U+FA81]

Translingual

Han character

婢 (Kangxi radical 38, 女+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 女竹田十 (VHWJ), four-corner 4644₀, composition ⿰女卑)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 265, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6428
• Dae Jaweon: page 532, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1059, character 14
• Unihan data for U+5A62

• Unihan data for U+FA80

Chinese

trad.		婢
simp. #		婢

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (卑) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
捭	*preːʔ
牌	*breː, *breː
郫	*breː, *bre, *be
蠯	*breː, *be, *breːŋʔ
猈	*breːʔ, *breː
稗	*breːs
粺	*breːs
𥱼	*breː
豍	*peː
箄	*peː, *pe, *peʔ
錍	*pʰeː, *pe
睥	*pʰeːs
渒	*pʰeːs, *pe
鼙	*beː
鞞	*beː, *pe, *peʔ, *peːŋʔ
椑	*beː, *pe, *beɡ, *beːɡ
崥	*beː, *peʔ
髀	*beːʔ, *peʔ, *piʔ
卑	*pe
鵯	*pe, *pʰiɡ
裨	*pe, *be
痺	*pe
碑	*pre
婢	*peʔ, *beʔ
諀	*pʰeʔ
脾	*be
埤	*be
陴	*be
蜱	*be, *mbew
焷	*be
螷	*be, *breːŋʔ
庳	*beʔ
琕	*biːŋ
萆	*beɡ, *slɯʔ
綼	*biɡ, *peːɡ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *peʔ, *beʔ) : semantic 女 + phonetic 卑 (OC *pe). May also be considered a ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : semantic 女 (“woman”) + semantic 卑 (“low, inferior”), especially in light of its etymology.

Etymology

Endoactive of 卑 (bēi, “low, inferior”) (i.e., what is low, what is inferior). Possible allofam of 嬖 (bì, “favorite person, favorite concubine”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bì, bèi (bi⁴, bei⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄧˋ, ㄅㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): pei⁵
• Eastern Min (BUC): bê
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): pī

  (Teochew, Peng'im): bi⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bì
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄧˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bì
    • Wade–Giles: pi⁴
    • Yale: bì
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bih
    • Palladius: би (bi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pi⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, variant in Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bèi
    • Wade–Giles: pei⁴
    • Yale: bèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bey
    • Palladius: бэй (bɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /peɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: pei⁵
    • Yale: péih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: pei⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: péi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰei̯¹³/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: bê
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɛi²⁴²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pī
    • Tâi-lô: pī
    • Phofsit Daibuun: pi
    • IPA (Xiamen): /pi²²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pi⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /pi²²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /pi³³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /pi³³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: bi⁶
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: pĭ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pi³⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: bjieX

Rime
Character	婢
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	並 (3)
Final (韻)	支 (11)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	便婢切
Baxter	bjieX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/biᴇX/
Pan Wuyun	/biɛX/
Shao Rongfen	/bjɛX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/biə̆X/
Li Rong	/bieX/
Wang Li	/bǐeX/
Bernard Karlgren	/bʱie̯X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	bei6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[b]eʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*peʔ/, /*beʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	婢
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bì
Middle Chinese	‹ bjieX ›
Old Chinese	/*[b]eʔ/
English	female slave or servant
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	婢	婢
Reading #	1/2	2/2
No.	378	394
Phonetic component	卑	卑
Rime group	支	支
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	𢔌	婢
Old Chinese	/*peʔ/	/*beʔ/

Definitions

婢

1. female slave

   • 威王勃然怒曰：『叱嗟！而母婢也。』 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

     Wēi Wáng bórán nù yuē: ‘Chì jiē! Ér mǔ bì yě.’ [Pinyin]

     King Wei furiously responded: "To hell with you! Son of a slave-girl."

2. (humble) Self-designation used by females in ancient China: your servant

Coordinate terms

• (slave): (male) 僕／仆 (pú)

Compounds

• 僮婢
• 呼奴使婢
• 女婢 (nǚbì)
• 奴婢 (núbì)
• 奴脣婢舌／奴唇婢舌
• 奴顏婢睞／奴颜婢睐
• 奴顏婢膝／奴颜婢膝 (núyánbìxī)
• 婢作夫人
• 婢僕／婢仆
• 婢女 (bìnǚ)
• 婢妮
• 婢妾 (bìqiè)
• 婢子
• 婢學夫人／婢学夫人
• 婢膝奴顏／婢膝奴颜
• 媵婢
• 官婢
• 家生婢
• 灶下婢
• 爨婢 (cuànbì)
• 童婢
• 老婢
• 賤婢／贱婢
• 金奴銀婢／金奴银婢

 

Japanese

Kanji

婢

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

1. maidservant
2. female slave

Readings

• Go-on: び (bi)
• Kan-on: ひ (hi)
• Kun: はしため (hashitame, 婢)

Compounds

• 角(かく)婢(ひ) (kakuhi)
• 下(か)婢(ひ) (kahi)
• 官(かん)奴(ぬ)婢(ひ) (kannuhi)
• 官(かん)婢(ぴ) (kanpi)
• 公(く)奴(ぬ)婢(ひ) (kunuhi)
• 私(し)奴(ぬ)婢(ひ) (shinuhi)
• 侍(じ)婢(ひ) (jihi), 侍婢(まかたち) (makatachi)
• 賤(せん)婢(ぴ) (senpi)
• 厨(ちゅう)婢(ひ) (chūhi)
• 奴(ど)婢(ひ) (dohi), 奴(ぬ)婢(ひ) (nuhi)
• 婢(ひ)子(し) (hishi)
• 婢(ひ)妾(しょう) (hishō)
• 婢(ひ)僕(ぼく) (hiboku)
• 傅(ふ)婢(ひ) (fuhi)
• 僕(ぼく)婢(ひ) (bokuhi)
• 老(ろう)婢(ひ) (rōhi)

Korean

Hanja

婢 • (bi) (hangeul 비, revised bi, McCune–Reischauer pi)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

婢: Hán Nôm readings: tì

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.