僕

See also: 仆

僕	U+50D5, 僕 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-50D5

← 僔

CJK Unified Ideographs

僖 →

Translingual

Japanese	僕
Simplified	仆
Traditional	僕

Stroke order

Han character

僕 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+12, 14 strokes, cangjie input 人廿金人 (OTCO), four-corner 2223₄, composition ⿰亻菐)

Derived terms

㙸, 濮, 纀, 襥

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 116, character 18
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1094
Dae Jaweon: page 247, character 30
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 218, character 9
Unihan data for U+50D5

Chinese

trad.		僕
simp.		仆^*
alternative forms		㒒

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 僕

**Oracle bone script**
j05000

**Bronze inscriptions**
b03327	b03328	b03329	b03330	b03331	b03332	b03333	b03334
b03335	b03336	b03337

**Small seal script**
s01961	s01962

**Transcribed ancient scripts**
L37363	L37364	L37365	L37366	L37367	L37368	L37369	L37370
L25033	L25034	L25035	L25036	L25037	L25038	L25039	L25040
L25041	L25042

References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

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

	Old Chinese
樸	baː, pʰroːɡ, poːɡ, boːɡ
璞	*pʰroːɡ
墣	pʰroːɡ, pʰoːɡ
撲	broːɡ, pʰoːɡ
轐	poːɡ, buːɡ
獛	*poːɡ
蹼	*poːɡ
襆	poːɡ, boɡ
濮	*poːɡ
纀	*poːɡ
醭	*pʰoːɡ
僕	boːɡ, buːɡ
菐	boːɡ, puɡ
穙	*boːɡ
鏷	*buːɡ
幞	*boɡ

In the oracle bone script and the early Western Zhou bronze script, it was a pictogram (象形) of a slave or prisoner, with hands holding a basket (其) to pick up garbage, an instrument of punishment (辛) above the head, and a tail (尾) to represent the slave's low status, akin to animals.

其 later corrupts into 甾, the hands (廾) move below 辛, and the slave's body (人) moves to become the left component. Later, 辛 corrupts into 丵 (probably by fusing with 甾) and combines with 廾 to give 菐 (OC *boːɡ, *puɡ), which functions as a phonetic component.

In the current form, it is essentially a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *boːɡ, *buːɡ) : semantic 人 (“man”) + phonetic 菐 (OC *boːɡ, *puɡ).

Etymology

Probably related to Tibetan བུ (bu, “son; boy”) (Coblin, 1986).

Alternatively, Peiros and Starostin (1996) compare it to Tibetan ཕྲུག (phrug, “child”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): pú (pu²)

(Zhuyin): ㄆㄨˊ

(Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): pu²
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): buk⁶

(Taishan, Wiktionary): buuk⁵
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): phuk / phu̍k / phù

(Meixian, Guangdong): pug⁶
Jin (Wiktionary): pah⁵ / peh⁵
Northern Min (KCR): pŭ
Eastern Min (BUC): bŭk
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): po̍k

(Teochew, Peng'im): bog⁸
Wu (Wugniu)
- (Northern): ⁸boq
Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): pu⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: pú
  - Zhuyin: ㄆㄨˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: pú
  - Wade–Giles: pʻu²
  - Yale: pú
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pwu
  - Palladius: пу (pu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰu³⁵/
- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: pu²
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: pu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰu²¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: buk⁶
  - Yale: buhk
  - Cantonese Pinyin: buk⁹
  - Guangdong Romanization: bug⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʊk̚²/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: buuk⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɵk̚³²/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: phuk / phu̍k
  - Hakka Romanization System: pug` / pug
  - Hagfa Pinyim: pug⁵ / pug⁶
  - Sinological IPA: /pʰuk̚²/, /pʰuk̚⁵/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: phù
  - Hakka Romanization System: puˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: pu²
  - Sinological IPA: /pʰu¹¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: pug⁶
  - Sinological IPA: /pʰʊk̚⁵/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: pah⁵ / peh⁵
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /pʰxaʔ⁵⁴/, /pʰxəʔ⁵⁴/

Note:

pah5 - colloquial;
peh5 - literary.

Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: pŭ
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰu²⁴/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: bŭk
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /puʔ⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: po̍k
  - Tâi-lô: po̍k
  - Phofsit Daibuun: pok
  - IPA (Xiamen): /pɔk̚⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /pɔk̚²⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /pɔk̚¹²¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /pɔk̚⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /pɔk̚⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: bog⁸
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: po̍k
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pok̚⁴/
Wu
- (Shanghai):
  - Wugniu: ⁸boq
  - MiniDict: boh^入
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁵boq
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /boʔ¹²/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: pu⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰu²⁴/

Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 僕
Mandarin	Beijing	/pʰu³⁵/
	Harbin	/pʰu²¹³/
	Tianjin	/pʰu⁴⁵/
	Jinan	/pʰu⁵⁵/
	Qingdao	/pʰu⁵⁵/
	Zhengzhou	/pʰu⁵³/
	Xi'an	/pʰu²⁴/
	Xining	/pʰv̩²⁴/
	Yinchuan	/pʰu⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/pʰu⁵³/
	Ürümqi	/pʰu⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/pʰu²¹³/
	Chengdu	/pʰu³¹/
	Guiyang	/pʰu²¹/
	Kunming	/pʰu³¹/
	Nanjing	/pʰuʔ⁵/
	Hefei	/pʰəʔ⁵/
Jin	Taiyuan	/pʰaʔ²/
	Pingyao
	Hohhot	/pʰaʔ⁴³/
Wu	Shanghai	/pʰoʔ⁵/ ～倒 /boʔ¹/ ～人
	Suzhou	/boʔ³/
	Hangzhou	/boʔ²/
	Wenzhou	/bo²¹³/
Hui	Shexian	/pʰɔʔ²¹/
Hui	Tunxi	/pʰu⁵/
Xiang	Changsha	/pʰu²⁴/
Xiang	Xiangtan	/pʰu²⁴/
Gan	Nanchang
Hakka	Meixian	/pʰuk̚⁵/
Hakka	Taoyuan	/pʰuk̚²²/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/pok̚²/ ～人 /pʰok̚⁵/ ～低
	Nanning	/pʰuk̚²²/
	Hong Kong	/pok̚²/ ～人 /pʰok̚⁵/ ～低
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/pʰɔk̚⁵/
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/puʔ⁵/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/pʰu²⁴/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/pʰok̚²/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/ʔbok̚³/

Middle Chinese: buwk, bowk

Rime
Character	僕	僕
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	並 (3)	並 (3)
Final (韻)	東 (3)	冬 (6)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	蒲木切	蒲沃切
Baxter	buwk	bowk
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/buk̚/	/buok̚/
Pan Wuyun	/buk̚/	/buok̚/
Shao Rongfen	/buk̚/	/bok̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/bəwk̚/	/bawk̚/
Li Rong	/buk̚/	/bok̚/
Wang Li	/buk̚/	/buok̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/bʱuk̚/	/bʱuok̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bú	bú
Expected Cantonese Reflex	buk⁶	buk⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*ˤok/

(Zhengzhang): /*boːɡ/, /*buːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	僕
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	pú
Middle Chinese	‹ buwk ›
Old Chinese	/*ˁok/
English	charioteer, servant
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * 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	僕	僕
Reading #	1/2	2/2
No.	9895	9899
Phonetic component	菐	菐
Rime group	屋	覺
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	暴	僕
Old Chinese	/*boːɡ/	/*buːɡ/

Definitions

僕

servant; slave (often male)
僕人／仆人 ― púrén ― servant
(literary, humble, men's speech) I; me; your humble servant
(obsolete) coachman; groom
(obsolete) to attach; to adhere
- 君子萬年，景命有僕。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
  君子万年，景命有仆。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
  Jūnzǐ wàn nián, jǐngmìng yǒu pú.
  Yea for ten thousand years,
  The bright appointment is attached to your person.
a surname

Coordinate terms

(slave): (female) 婢 (bì)

Compounds

References

“僕”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

僕

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

I (masculine speech)
manservant

Readings

Go-on: ぼく (boku, Jōyō)
Kan-on: ほく (hoku)
Kun: しもべ (shimobe, 僕); やつがれ (yatsugare, 僕)

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
僕
ぼく Grade: S
goon

Shift in reading to use the on'yomi, becoming prevalent from around the Meiji period.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ぼく (Atamadaka – )
(Tokyo) ぼく (Heiban – )
IPA^(key):

Noun

僕(ぼく) • (boku)

manservant, servant
Synonyms: 下僕 (geboku), 下男 (genan), (see below) 僕 (shimobe)

Pronoun

僕(ぼく) or 僕(ボク) • (boku)

(men's speech) I; me (personal pronoun; usually used by males; implies that the speaker is a young boy or otherwise boyish)
- 1997 August 12, Maekawa, Takeshi, “未(み)知(ち)なる大(だい)地(ち)への巻(まき)”, in 新(しん)鉄(てっ)拳(けん)チンミ (新(しん)鉄(てっ)拳(けん)チンミ), volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN, page 32:
  
  ぼく？ぼくは南(なん)高(こう)山(ざん)大(だい)林(りん)寺(じ)からちょっとした用(よう)で…
  Boku? Boku wa Nankō-zan Dairin-ji kara chotto shita yō de…
  Me? I was sent by the Dairin Temple on Mount Nankō...
- 2003 September 22, Akinobu Uraku, “第(だい)61話(わ)　愛(いと)しきものの為(ため)に”, in 東(とう)京(きょう)アンダーグラウンド, volume 11 (fiction), Square Enix, →ISBN, page 48:
  
  昔(むかし)の僕(ぼく)とは違(ちが)う
  Mukashi no boku to wa chigau
  I am not what I used to be.
- Kore Yamazaki, “第1篇　April showers bring May flowers. [第1篇　April showers bring May flowers., Composition 1: April showers bring May flowers.]”, in 魔法使いの嫁(The Ancient Magus Bride) (魔法使いの嫁(The Ancient Magus Bride)), volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Mag Garden, page 20:
  君(きみ)を魔法使い(ぼく)の弟(で)子(し)として歓(かん)迎(げい)するよ　死の愛し仔(スレイ・ベガ)…いや　チセ
  Kimi o boku no deshi to shite kangei suru yo Surei Bega… iya Chise
  You are welcome as my apprentice, Sleigh Beggey... I mean, Chise.
you, he, she (only used in reference to a person who uses this term to refer to themselves, or is one who is assumed to use it, such as a young boy)
僕(ぼく)、迷(まい)子(ご)かな？
Boku, maigo kana?
Hi boy, are you lost?

僕(ぼく)はいくつかな？
Boku wa ikutsu kana?
How old are you?

Usage notes

If used by an adult male, semi-formal; in formal conversation 私 (watashi) is preferred.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
僕
しもべ Grade: S
kun’yomi

Originally a compound of 下 (shimo, “lower”) +‎ 部 (be, “servant to the imperial court”).

Alternative forms

下部

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) しもべ (Heiban – )
(Tokyo) しもべ (Odaka – )
IPA^(key):

Noun

僕(しもべ) • (shimobe)

manservant, servant
Synonyms: 下僕 (geboku), 下男 (genan), (see above) 僕 (boku)

忠実(ちゅうじつ)な僕(しもべ)
chūjitsu na shimobe
a faithful servant
a man of low social status
a low-ranking civil servant

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
僕
やつがれ Grade: S
kun’yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 僕 – see the following entry.

【やつがれ】

(humble, men's speech, somewhat dated) I, me

(This term, 僕, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja

僕 (eum 복 (bok))

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

Vietnamese

Han character

僕: Hán Nôm readings: bộc, bọc

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

References

Nom Foundation

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

僕

Contents

Translingual

Han character

Derived terms

References

Chinese

Glyph origin

Etymology

Pronunciation

Definitions

Coordinate terms

Compounds

References

Japanese

Kanji

Readings

Compounds

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Pronoun

Usage notes

See also

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

Etymology 3

References

Korean

Hanja

Vietnamese

Han character

References

Wikious

Boobota

Sagapedia

First-person pronouns by elementary school pupils (2008)
Speaker	Situation	1	2	3
Female	To friends	うち 49%	First name 26%	あたし 15%
	In the family	First name 33%	あたし 29%	うち 23%
	In a class	わたし 86%	あたし 7%	うち 6%
	To an unknown visitor	わたし 75%	あたし, first name, うち 8% each
	To the class teacher	わたし 66%	First name 13%	あたし 9%
Male	To friends	おれ 72%	ぼく 19%	First name 4%
	In the family	おれ 62%	ぼく 23%	うち 6%
	In a class	ぼく 85%	おれ 13%	First name, nickname 1% each
	To an unknown visitor	ぼく 64%	おれ 26%	First name 4%
	To the class teacher	ぼく 67%	おれ 27%	First name 3%

First-person pronouns by university students (2009)
Speaker	Situation	1	2	3
Female	To friends	うち 39%	あたし 30%	わたし 22%
	In the family	あたし 28%	First name 27%	うち 18%
	In a class	わたし 89%	あたし 7%	自分 3%
	To an unknown visitor	わたし 81%	あたし 10%	自分 6%
	To the class teacher	わたし 77%	あたし 17%	自分 7%
Male	To friends	おれ 87%	うち 4%	わたし, 自分 2% each
	In the family	おれ 88%	ぼく, 自分 5% each
	In a class	わたし 48%	自分 28%	ぼく 22%
	To an unknown visitor	ぼく 36%	自分 29%	わたし 22%
	To the class teacher	自分 38%	ぼく 29%	わたし 22%