不
Template:character info/new Template:character info/new
Translingual
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Alternative forms
- A CJK compatibility ideograph exists at
U+F967with no change in glyph appearance.
Han character
不 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+3, 4 strokes, cangjie input 一火 (MF), four-corner 10900, composition ⿸丆卜(GHTJK) or ⿻丆卜(V))
Usage notes
This character is not to be confused with visually similar but unrelated 𣎴 (U+233B4) or 𤓯 (U+244EF).
Derived characters
- 伓, 吥, 坏, 妚, 怀, 抔, 㳅, 还, 阫, 肧, 杯, 炋, 环, 𭾟, 𥐴, 紑, 𦤹, 𧉈, 衃, 䞜, 鈈(钚), 䬪, 鴀(𫛜), 㞸, 芣, 罘, 𮅁, 䯱, 丕, 㔻, 否, 奀, 㫘, 㶪, 𠀱, 㶨, 𠀰, 甭, 盃, 歪, 𧖯, 𧗩, 𠀾, 孬, 覔, 䬩, 嫑, 𠁞, 囨
Descendants
- ふ (Hiragana character derived from Man'yōgana)
- フ (Katakana character derived from Man'yōgana)
References
- Kangxi Dictionary: page 76, character 15
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19
- Dae Jaweon: page 149, character 4
- Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 11, character 6
- Unihan data for U+4E0D
Chinese
| simp. and trad. |
不 | |
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| alternative forms | 𠀚 𠙐 | |
Glyph origin
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| Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Bronze inscriptions | Chu slip and silk script | Qin slip script | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References:
Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
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| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| 肧 | *pʰlɯː, *pʰɯ, *pʰlɯː |
| 俖 | *pʰɯːʔ |
| 娝 | *prɯʔ |
| 痞 | *prɯʔ, *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ |
| 丕 | *pʰrɯ |
| 伾 | *pʰrɯ |
| 秠 | *pʰrɯ, *pʰrɯʔ, *pʰɯ, *pʰɯʔ |
| 駓 | *pʰrɯ |
| 怌 | *pʰrɯ |
| 豾 | *pʰrɯ |
| 髬 | *pʰrɯ |
| 魾 | *pʰrɯ, *brɯ |
| 鉟 | *pʰrɯ, *brɯ |
| 嚭 | *pʰrɯʔ |
| 邳 | *brɯ |
| 岯 | *brɯ |
| 否 | *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ |
| 抔 | *bɯ, *pʰlɯː |
| 不 | *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ' |
| 紑 | *pɯ, *pʰɯ, *pʰɯʔ |
| 鴀 | *pɯ, *pɯʔ |
| 衃 | *pʰɯ, *pʰlɯː |
| 罘 | *bɯ |
| 芣 | *bɯ |
| 杯 | *plɯː |
| 盃 | *plɯː |
| 桮 | *pɯː |
| 坯 | *pʰɯː |
| 胚 | *pʰɯː |
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 (OC *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ), 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 (OC *po) was eventually created to represent the original meaning of calyx.
Following Shuowen’s interpretation, Karlgren and Wieger interpret it as a bird flying toward the sky (一). The sky being the limit for the bird, thus the idea of negation.
Etymology
Old Chinese had two sets of negatives: the initial *p-series and the initial *m-series. 不 is the prototype of the *p-series of negatives. Although it is the usual Literary Chinese negative attested from the oracle bone script down, its current usage is now confined to Mandarin dialects. In the oracle bone inscriptions, a total of five negative particles can be found: 不, 弗, 毋, 勿 and 非. With the exception of 非 (discussed later), the remaining can be neatly organised into the following system:
| *-V | *-ɯd | |
|---|---|---|
| *p-type negatives (< ?) | 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ') | 弗 (OC *pɯd) |
| *m-type negatives (< Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ma) | 毋 (OC *ma) (無 (OC *ma)) |
勿 (OC *mɯd) |
Takahashi (1996) argued that the *m-type negatives are modal (i.e. negative verbs which are thought of as controllable by the Shang), whereas the *p-type negatives are non-modal (imply uncontrollability; actions which are beyond the control of living persons).
In the *p-series, 不 usually goes with intransitive verbs in the oracle bone script, and 弗 (OC *pɯd) with transitive ones, although there are some glaring exceptions. Little or no pattern can be discerned in the *m-type category. Takahashi (1996) also proposed that the difference between the two vowel series was whether they preceded “stative, eventive, passive” (*-V series) or “non-stative, non-eventive, active” (*-ɯd series) verbs.
It is possible that the two parallel series of negatives in Old Chinese represent a fusion of the common Sino–Tibetan *ma (“no, not”) (carried by the eastward-migrating early Sino–Tibetans) and an indigenous negation system in Central China, and that the merger had been complete by the Shang times. Compare a similar system in Proto-Tai: *ɓawᴮ (“not [strong form 1]”), *boːᴮ (“not [strong form 2]”), *miːᴬ (“not [weak form]”); Thai บ่ (bɔ̀ɔ, “(literary, archaic, dialectal) not”).
The development from Old Chinese to Middle Chinese was not regular; the variant Middle Chinese readings with checked coda (–t) were an innovation not found in Old Chinese. The Modern Standard Mandarin pronunciation is from this checked coda one, but this word escaped from regular sound changes during its evolution to the modern pronunciation bù, owing to itself belonging to the popular stratum. The expected reading is fu (tone undetermined), with labiodentalisation. The rising-tone pronunciation had a Middle Chinese homophone 否 (“not”), which is now primarily used in compounds, and demonstrates the regular development into modern f-. Another example of high-frequency words escaping regular sound changes is 父 (OC *paʔ, *baʔ, “dad”), which resulted in a late coinage of 爸 (bà).
不 is cognate with other negation particles in the *p-type category:
- 弗 (OC *pɯd, “not”);
- 非 (OC *pɯj, “not be; not”) – can be safely regarded as a fusion of 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ', “not”) and 惟 (OC *ɢʷi, “to be”);
- 否 (OC *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ, “not; to be wrong”);
- 匪 (OC *pɯjʔ, “it is not; to be not”); and
- 棐 (OC *pɯjʔ, “it is not; to be not”).
Cognate with Thai บ่ (bɔ̀ɔ, “(literary, archaic, dialectal) not”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Pronunciation 1
- Mandarin
- (Standard)
- (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): bu2
- (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): бу (bu, I)
- Cantonese
- Gan (Wiktionary): biit6
- Hakka
- Jin (Wiktionary): beh4
- Northern Min (KCR): bŭ
- Eastern Min (BUC): bók
- Southern Min
- Wu (Wugniu)
- (Northern): 7peq
- Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): bu6
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: bù
- Wade–Giles: pu4
- Yale: bù
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bu
- Palladius: бу (bu)
- Sinological IPA (key): /pu⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- (Chengdu)
- Sichuanese Pinyin: bu2
- Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: bu
- Sinological IPA (key): /pu²¹/
- (Dungan)
- Cyrillic and Wiktionary: бу (bu, I)
- Sinological IPA (key): /pou²⁴/
- (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
- (Chengdu)
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
- Jyutping: bat1
- Yale: bāt
- Cantonese Pinyin: bat7
- Guangdong Romanization: bed1
- Sinological IPA (key): /pɐt̚⁵/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
- Wiktionary: but2
- Sinological IPA (key): /put̚⁵⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
- Gan
- (Nanchang)
- Wiktionary: biit6
- Sinological IPA (key): /pɨt̚⁵/
- (Nanchang)
- Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: put
- Hakka Romanization System: bud`
- Hagfa Pinyim: bud5
- Sinological IPA: /put̚²/
- (Meixian)
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Jin
- (Taiyuan)+
- Wiktionary: beh4
- Sinological IPA (old-style): /pəʔ²/
- (Taiyuan)+
- Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
- Kienning Colloquial Romanized: bŭ
- Sinological IPA (key): /pu²⁴/
- (Jian'ou)
- Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
- Bàng-uâ-cê: bók
- Sinological IPA (key): /pouʔ²⁴/
- (Fuzhou)
- Southern Min
- Wu
- Xiang
- (Changsha)
- Wiktionary: bu6
- Sinological IPA (key): /pu²⁴/
- (Changsha)
- Middle Chinese: pjuw, pjuwX, pjut
- Old Chinese
- (Baxter–Sagart): /*pə/
- (Zhengzhang): /*pɯ/, /*pɯʔ/, /*pɯ'/
Definitions
- not (preceding verbs and adjectives)
- no (answer to a yes-no question)
- Used with 就 (jiù) to indicate the first of two alternatives.
- (colloquial) Question particle placed at the end of the sentence.
- (colloquial) Intensifying particle often used with 好 (hǎo).
- (archaic) Meaningless particle used in poems and other texts.
Synonyms
Usage notes
- The tone changes from fourth to second tone when followed by a fourth-tone syllable.
- When negating the verb 有 (yǒu) (to have), 沒／没 (méi) is used instead of 不 (i.e. 沒有／没有 (méiyǒu), rather than *不有).
- The word no does not have a translation in Chinese. To answer "no" to a yes/no question (either "affirmative-negative questions" (正反問句／正反问句) or a 嗎／吗 (ma) question), you have to use the verb of the question in negative form, i.e. preceded by 不 (or by 沒／没 (méi) in the case of 有 (yǒu)).
- If there is no verb to negate in the context, 不是 (bùshì) is used.
- "No" can be translated by 否 (fǒu) alone, but this is formal and not normally used in standard Chinese.
- When a verb is two characters long, truncating it to the first character before 不 may sound more natural, as in the example above (認不認識他／认不认识他 as opposed to 認識不認識他／认识不认识他)
- 不 is similar to a verb prefix that forms a stative verb with the verb to be negated. Therefore the predicates of the 不 sentences that contain the new compound verbs can not be modified by the perfective aspect marker 了 (le), which modifies only dynamic verbs.
- When 了 appears in a 不 sentence, it usually functions as a marker of "currently relevant state" instead. See the sentence above and notice that it does not mean "I have not become a soldier".
Pronunciation 2
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄈㄡˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: fǒu
- Wade–Giles: fou3
- Yale: fǒu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bu
- Palladius: фоу (fou)
- Sinological IPA (key): /foʊ̯²¹⁴/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
- Jyutping: fau2
- Yale: fáu
- Cantonese Pinyin: fau2
- Guangdong Romanization: feo2
- Sinological IPA (key): /fɐu̯³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
- Southern Min
- (Teochew)
- Peng'im: houn2
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: hóuⁿ
- Sinological IPA (key): /hõũ⁵²/
- (Teochew)
- Middle Chinese: pjuwX
Definitions
- (archaic) (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 否 (fǒu, “negation and question particle”).
Pronunciation 3
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄈㄡ
- Tongyong Pinyin: fou
- Wade–Giles: fou1
- Yale: fōu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bu
- Palladius: фоу (fou)
- Sinological IPA (key): /foʊ̯⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Middle Chinese: pjuw
- Old Chinese
- (Baxter–Sagart): /*pə/
- (Zhengzhang): /*pɯ/
Definitions
- a surname
Pronunciation 4
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄈㄨ
- Tongyong Pinyin: fu
- Wade–Giles: fu1
- Yale: fū
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bu
- Palladius: фу (fu)
- Sinological IPA (key): /fu⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
Definitions
Compounds
Japanese
Kanji
Readings
- Go-on: ふ (fu, Jōyō); ほち (hochi); ふち (fuchi)
- Kan-on: ふう (fū); ほつ (hotsu); ふつ (futsu)
- Kan’yō-on: ぶ (bu, Jōyō)
- Kun: ず (zu, 不); せず (sezu); にあらず (niarazu); いなや (inaya)
Compounds
- 不安 (fuan)
- 不一 (fuitsu), 不乙 (fuitsu)
- 不運 (fuun)
- 不壊 (fukai)
- 不易 (fueki)
- 不可 (fuka)
- 不可解 (fukakai)
- 不快 (fukai)
- 不許 (fukyo): not permitting
- 不具 (fugu)
- 不倶戴天 (fugutaiten)
- 不言実行 (fugenjikkō)
- 不孝 (fukō)
- 不幸 (fukō)
- 不治 (fuji)
- 不死身 (fujimi)
- 不悉 (fushitsu)
- 不肖 (fushō)
- 不祥 (fushō)
Prefix
Korean
Etymology 1
Hanja
Etymology 2
Hanja
Compounds
Vietnamese
Han character
不: Hán Việt readings: bất[1][2]
不: Nôm readings: bất[1][2]
References
- Translingual lemmas
- Translingual symbols
- Han script characters
- Han characters from which hiragana were derived
- Han characters from which katakana were derived
- Han pictograms
- Mandarin terms with audio links
- Middle Chinese lemmas
- Old Chinese lemmas
- Chinese lemmas
- Mandarin lemmas
- Sichuanese lemmas
- Dungan lemmas
- Cantonese lemmas
- Taishanese lemmas
- Gan lemmas
- Hakka lemmas
- Jin lemmas
- Northern Min lemmas
- Eastern Min lemmas
- Hokkien lemmas
- Teochew lemmas
- Wu lemmas
- Xiang lemmas
- Chinese adverbs
- Mandarin adverbs
- Sichuanese adverbs
- Dungan adverbs
- Cantonese adverbs
- Taishanese adverbs
- Gan adverbs
- Hakka adverbs
- Jin adverbs
- Northern Min adverbs
- Eastern Min adverbs
- Hokkien adverbs
- Teochew adverbs
- Wu adverbs
- Xiang adverbs
- Chinese particles
- Mandarin particles
- Sichuanese particles
- Dungan particles
- Cantonese particles
- Taishanese particles
- Gan particles
- Hakka particles
- Jin particles
- Northern Min particles
- Eastern Min particles
- Hokkien particles
- Teochew particles
- Wu particles
- Xiang particles
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese Han characters
- Mandarin terms with usage examples
- Chinese colloquialisms
- Chinese terms with archaic senses
- Chinese proper nouns
- Mandarin proper nouns
- Chinese surnames
- Beginning Mandarin
- Japanese Han characters
- Grade 4 kanji
- Japanese kanji with goon reading ふ
- Japanese kanji with goon reading ほち
- Japanese kanji with goon reading ふち
- Japanese kanji with kan'on reading ふう
- Japanese kanji with kan'on reading ほつ
- Japanese kanji with kan'on reading ふつ
- Japanese kanji with kan'yōon reading ぶ
- Japanese kanji with kun reading ず
- Japanese kanji with kun reading せず
- Japanese kanji with kun reading にあらず
- Japanese kanji with kun reading いなや
- Japanese lemmas
- Japanese prefixes
- Japanese terms with multiple readings
- Japanese terms spelled with fourth grade kanji
- Japanese terms written with one Han script character
- Japanese terms spelled with 不
- Japanese single-kanji terms
- Korean lemmas
- Korean Han characters
- Vietnamese Chữ Hán
- Vietnamese lemmas
- Vietnamese Han characters
- Vietnamese Nom