僕

See also: 仆
僕 U+50D5, 僕
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-50D5
← 僔
[U+50D4] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 僖 →
[U+50D6]

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

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

Note:
  • pah5 - colloquial;
  • peh5 - literary.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 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/
Tunxi /pʰu⁵/
Xiang Changsha /pʰu²⁴/
Xiangtan /pʰu²⁴/
Gan Nanchang
Hakka Meixian /pʰuk̚⁵/
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/
Rime
Character 僕 僕
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Initial (聲) 並 (3) 並 (3)
Final (韻) 屋 (3) 沃 (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
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 僕
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 pú
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ buwk ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[b]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. *[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 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

  1. servant; slave (often male)
    僕人／仆人  ―  púrén  ―  servant
  2. (literary, humble, men's speech) I; me; your humble servant
  3. (obsolete) coachman; groom
  4. (obsolete) to attach; to adhere
  5. a surname

Coordinate terms
  • (slave): (female) 婢 (bì)

Compounds

References

Japanese

Kanji
僕

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

  1. I (masculine speech)
  2. manservant

Readings

Compounds
Derived terms

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

Noun

僕(ぼく) • (boku) 

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

Pronoun

僕(ぼく) or 僕(ボク) • (boku) 

  1. (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) [To the Strange Land]”, 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) [New Ironfist Chinmi], 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 [Chapter 61: All for Our Loved Ones]”, in 東(とう)京(きょう)アンダーグラウンド [Tokyo Underground], 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)) [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.
  2. 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.

See also
Japanese first-person pronouns

Japanese first-person pronouns by speakers and situations according to Yuko Saegusa, Concerning the First Personal Pronoun of Native Japanese Speakers (2009)

First-person pronouns by elementary school pupils (2008)
SpeakerSituation123
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)
SpeakerSituation123
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

Pronunciation

Noun

僕(しもべ) • (shimobe) 

  1. 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
  2. a man of low social status
  3. 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】
[pronoun] (humble, men's speech, somewhat dated) I, me
(This term, 僕, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  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))

  1. 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

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

References
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