匹夫

匹夫

Chinese

		(measure word for horses, mules, a bolt of cloth); ordinary person; mate (measure word for horses, mules, a bolt of cloth); ordinary person; mate; one of a pair	husband; man
trad. (匹夫)		匹	夫
simp. #(匹夫)		匹	夫

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): pǐfū

  (Zhuyin): ㄆㄧˇ ㄈㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): pat¹ fu¹
• Min Nan (POJ): phit-hu

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: pǐfū
    • Zhuyin: ㄆㄧˇ ㄈㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: pǐfu
    • Wade–Giles: pʻi³-fu¹
    • Yale: pǐ-fū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: piifu
    • Palladius: пифу (pifu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰi²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ fu⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: pat¹ fu¹
    • Yale: pāt fū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: pat⁷ fu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ped¹ fu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰɐt̚⁵ fuː⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: phit-hu
    • Tâi-lô: phit-hu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: phithw
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pʰit̚⁵⁻²⁴ hu³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /pʰit̚³²⁻⁵ hu⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /pʰit̚³²⁻⁴ hu⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: /pʰiɪt̚  pɨo/

Rime
Character	匹	夫
Reading #	1/1	2/2
Initial (聲)	滂 (2)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	眞 (48)	虞 (24)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	譬吉切	甫無切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pʰiɪt̚/	/pɨo/
Pan Wuyun	/pʰit̚/	/pio/
Shao Rongfen	/pʰjet̚/	/pio/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/pʰit̚/	/puə̆/
Li Rong	/pʰiĕt̚/	/pio/
Wang Li	/pʰĭĕt̚/	/pĭu/
Bernard Karlgren	/pʰi̯ĕt̚/	/pi̯u/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	pi	fū
Expected Cantonese Reflex	pat1	fu1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*pʰi[t]  p(r)a/

  (Zhengzhang): /*pʰid  pa/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	匹	夫
Reading #	1/1	1/3
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	pǐ	fū
Middle Chinese	‹ phjit ›	‹ pju ›
Old Chinese	/*pʰi[t]/	/*p(r)a/
English	one of a pair	man
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	匹	夫
Reading #	1/1	1/2
No.	9737	3274
Phonetic component	匹	夫
Rime group	質	魚
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	匹	跗
Old Chinese	/*pʰid/	/*pa/

Noun

匹夫

1. (literary) ordinary man
2. (literary) the common people; the masses; ordinary citizens
3. (literary) ordinary person; unexceptional individual
4. (literary) autocrat
5. (literary, derogatory) ignorant person

Synonyms

• (common people):

edit

Synonyms of 匹夫

一般人 (yībānrén) 世人 (shìrén) 人士 (rénshì) (literary) 人民 (rénmín) 人群 (rénqún) 人萌 (rénméng) (literary) 俗人 (súrén) 俗子 (súzǐ) (literary) 兆民 (zhàomín) (archaic) 凡人 (fánrén) 凡夫 (fánfū) (literary) 士人 (shìrén) (archaic) 子民 (zǐmín) (historical) 家人 (jiārén) (archaic) 布衣 (bùyī) (historical) 常人 (chángrén) 平人 (píngrén) (literary) 平常人 (píngchángrén) 平民 (píngmín) 庶人 (shùrén) (literary) 庶民 (shùmín) (literary) 斯人 (sīrén) (Classical Chinese) 普通人 (pǔtōngrén) 民人 (mínrén) (literary) 烝民 (zhēngmín) (literary)

白衣 (báiyī) (historical) 白衣人 (báiyīrén) (historical) 白身 (báishēn) (archaic) 白身人 (báishēnrén) (archaic) 百姓 (bǎixìng) 老百姓 (lǎobǎixìng) 良人 (liángrén) (literary) 草民 (cǎomín) (the worthless ordinary people) 草菅 (cǎojiān) (Classical Chinese, figurative) 草野 (cǎoyě) (literary, figurative) 萌 (méng) (literary) 野人 (yěrén) (archaic) 黎庶 (líshù) (literary) 黎民 (límín) (literary) 黎首 (líshǒu) (archaic) 黔首 (qiánshǒu) (archaic) 𫣆人 (Hakka) 世間人／世间人 (Min Nan) 公眾／公众 (gōngzhòng) 四眾人／四众人 (Teochew) 大眾／大众 (dàzhòng) 民眾／民众 (mínzhòng) 眾人／众人 (zhòngrén) (literary) 群眾／群众 (qúnzhòng) 萬姓／万姓 (wànxìng) (archaic)

Derived terms

匹夫之勇 (pǐfūzhīyǒng)

天下興亡，匹夫有責／天下兴亡，匹夫有责 (tiānxià xīngwáng, pǐfū yǒuzé)