僕
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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: 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
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| 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
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.]
- From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11th – 7th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
- Jūnzǐ wàn nián, jǐngmìng yǒu pú. [Pinyin]
- Yea for ten thousand years,
The bright appointment is attached to your person.
君子万年，景命有仆。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]
- a surname
Coordinate terms
- (slave): (female) 婢 (bì)
Compounds
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Japanese
Kanji
(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
- 家僕 (kaboku)
- 学僕 (gakuboku)
- 下僕 (geboku)
- 公僕 (kōboku)
- 校僕 (kōboku)
- 従僕 (jūboku)
- 忠実な僕 (chūjitsu na shimobe)
- 忠僕 (chūboku)
- 老僕 (rōboku)
- 僕たち (bokutachi)
- 僕ら (bokura)
- 僕ん所 (bokuntoko)
- 僕達 (bokutachi)
- 僕仲間 (bokunakama)
- 僕婢 (bokuhi)
- 僕蔵 (Bokuzō)
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.[1][2]
Pronunciation
- (Tokyo) ぼく [bóꜜkù] (Atamadaka – [1])[2][3]
- (Tokyo) ぼく [bòkú] (Heiban – [0])[3]
- IPA(key): [bo̞kɯ̟ᵝ]
Noun
僕 • (boku)
- manservant, servant
- Synonyms: 下僕 (geboku), 下男 (genan), (see below) 僕 (shimobe)
Pronoun
僕 • (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, “未知なる大地への巻 [To the Strange Land]”, in 新鉄拳チンミ [New Ironfist Chinmi], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN, page 32:
- ぼく？ぼくは南高山大林寺からちょっとした用で…
- Boku? Boku wa Nankō-zan Dairin-ji kara chotto shita yō de…
- Me? I was sent by the Dairin Temple on Mount Nankō...
- ぼく？ぼくは南高山大林寺からちょっとした用で…
- 2003 September 22, Uraku, Akinobu, “第61話 愛しきものの為に [Chapter 61: All for Our Loved Ones]”, in 東京アンダーグラウンド [Tokyo Underground], volume 11 (fiction), Square Enix, →ISBN, page 48:
- 昔の僕とは違う
- Mukashi no boku to wa chigau
- I am not what I used to be.
- 昔の僕とは違う
- Yamazaki, Kore, “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], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Mag Garden, page 20:
- 君を魔法使いの弟子として歓迎するよ 死の愛し仔…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、迷子かな？
- Boku, maigo kana?
- Hi boy, are you lost?
- 僕はいくつかな？
- Boku wa ikutsu kana?
- How old are you?
- 僕、迷子かな？
Usage notes
- If used by an adult male, semi-formal; in formal conversation 私 (watashi) is preferred.
See also
Japanese first-person pronouns by speakers and situations according to Yuko Saegusa, Concerning the First Personal Pronoun of Native Japanese Speakers (2009)
| 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% | |
| 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% | |
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”).[1][2]
Alternative forms
- 下部
Pronunciation
- (Tokyo) しもべ [shìmóbé] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
- (Tokyo) しもべ [shìmóbéꜜ] (Odaka – [3])[2][3]
- IPA(key): [ɕimo̞be̞]
Noun
僕 • (shimobe)
- manservant, servant
- 忠実な僕
- chūjitsu na shimobe
- a faithful servant
- Synonyms: 下僕 (geboku), 下男 (genan), (see above) 僕 (boku)
- 忠実な僕
- 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. | ||
| ||
| (This term, 僕, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
References
- 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →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
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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
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References
- Nom Foundation