勿

Translingual

Han character

勿 (Kangxi radical 20, 勹+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 心竹竹 (PHH), four-corner 2722₀, composition ⿹勹⿰丿丿)

Derived characters

• 伆 𠖳 吻 圽 𡛁 岉 𢪱 沕 𢪥 𬆿 昒 歾 物 肳 䀛 䥼 粅 𧉚 虝 覅 魩 䴯 朆
• 刎 㬟 𣍐 忽 曶 㫚 甮 䀜 䝆 𠤆 𠤌 芴 笏 易 昜 匆 匢 囫 脗 𠏦

See also

• 匆 匁

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 150, character 24
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2501
• Dae Jaweon: page 339, character 14
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 255, character 2
• Unihan data for U+52FF

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 勿
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) – blood on a knife; the original character of 刎 (OC *mɯnʔ, “to cut”). Phonetically borrowed for the negative particle since the time of the oracle bone script.

Etymology 1

do not (verb) him/her/it!

Fusion of 毋 (OC *ma, “should not; don't!”) with 之 (OC *tjɯ, “third-person pronoun”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

Definitions

勿

1. (literary or formal, imperative) do not; don't

   請勿吸煙／请勿吸烟  ―  qǐng wù xīyān  ―  no smoking (lit. please do not smoke)

   • 己所不欲，勿施於人。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     己所不欲，勿施于人。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Jǐ suǒ bù yù, wù shī yú rén.

     What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.

2. (literary) not

   • 齊侯欲勿許。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     齐侯欲勿许。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Qí hóu yù wù xǔ.

     Duke Ling of Qi wanted to not agree.

3. Used in 勿勿.

Synonyms

Compounds

Etymology 2

According to Pan (2002), developed from a labiodentalized and checked variant of 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ').

In certain varieties the initial has gained voicing and in some cases caused the word shifted to yang tones, either restricted to specific syntactical positions or in all contexts.

See also 弗 (feq).

Pronunciation

Definitions

勿

1. (Wu) not

   對勿起／对勿起 [Shanghainese]  ―  ⁵te-veq-chi [Wugniu]  ―  Sorry

   搿種勿二勿三個閒話儂勿要去學伊！ [Shanghainese, trad.]
   搿种勿二勿三个闲话侬勿要去学伊！ [Shanghainese, simp.]

   ⁸geq-tson ⁶veq₈-gni-veq-se-gheq ⁶ghe-gho ⁶non ⁶veq₈-iau ⁵chi ⁸ghoq-yi [Wugniu]

   This type of unholy delinquent language - don't you go on imitating all that!

Synonyms

Usage notes

• In Urban Shanghainese, 勿 has the same tone sandhi as the light departing (陽去) tone, as opposed to the expected light checked (陽入) tone. This had developed from a stage in which the character had the dark checked (陽入) tone and the voiced initial of /β~v/, reflecting a transitional stage in the character's gain of voicing in Shanghai. The dark checked tone sandhi pattern is still preserved in more conservative urban lects, as well as the majority of non-urban Shanghainese varieties.
• 勿, 弗 and 伐 are all characters that have been popular in representing the checked and labiodentalized series of negators, generally pronounced as /fəʔ/, /vəʔ/ or both depending on the exact variety. In historical literature, the exact choice of character varied between the topolects and the preferences of individual writers.
• In some contemporary proposals aiming to standardize cross-topolectal writing in Wu, it is preferred that the voiced variants of the negator be written with 勿 and the unvoiced variants of the negator with 弗. This is often received somewhat inconsistently, however, and the choice between the variant characters remains largely a matter of personal preference.

Compounds

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Definitions

勿

1. (Southern Min) Alternative form of 莫 (“(imperative) do not; don't”)

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Definitions

勿

1. Only used in 卹勿.

Japanese

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

1. negation
2. prohibition

Readings

• Go-on: もち (mochi)
• Kan-on: ぶつ (butsu)
• On: ぼつ (botsu)
• Kun: なかれ (nakare, 勿れ); なし (nashi, 勿)

Compounds

• 勿(もっ)体(たい)無(な)い (mottainai): too good, wasteful
• 勿(もち)論(ろん) (mochiron): of course, certainly
• 勿(もっ)怪(け)の幸(さいわ)い (mokke no saiwai): unexpected gain, bonanza, windfall

Noun

勿(ぶつ) • (butsu) 

勿(もち) • (mochi) 

1. must not, do not, be not

Korean

Hanja

勿 (eumhun 말 물 (mal mul))
勿 (eumhun 아닐 물 (anil mul))

1. Hanja form^? of 물 (“must not, do not”).
2. Hanja form^? of 물 (“never”).

勿 (eumhun 없을 몰 (eopseul mol))

1. Hanja form^? of 물 (“without, lacking”).

Vietnamese

Han character

勿: Hán Nôm readings: vật, vặt, vất

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

Zhuang

Noun

勿

1. Sawndip form of fwed (“wing”)