Zi:不

From Wenlin Dictionaries

[] not; no; neither; non-/un- [] (sandhi: as in 不​ búduì); (HDZ:) … [] ​ [] ​ [fǒu] ​ [] ​ (HDC:) ​不/​, ​不/​ [fōu] (​) [] ​: ​

2 monosyllabic entries in The ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (namespace Ci):

¹bù* {A} adv.notnocons.∼ A ∼ B (where A B are paired synonyms) not A B∼huāng∼máng ∼慌∼忙 unhurried∼ A ∼ B (where A B are antonymous stative verbs) neither A nor Bbụ̀dàbùxiǎo ∼大∼小 neither (too) big nor (too) small∼ A ∼ B (where A B are antonymous verbs) no B without Abụ̀pòbụ̀lì ∼破∼立 no constructing without destroying∼ A ér B do B without doing Abụ̀zhàn'érshèng ∼战而胜 win without fightingA ∼ A (the matter/question of) A or not Abóshì ∼ bóshì, wǒ wúsuǒwèi. 博士∼博士, 我无所谓。 Whether or not I get a PhD makes no difference to me.V1 ∼ V1V2 (variant form of V1V2 ∼ V1V2, where V1V2 is a compound verb) whether or not V1V2kě ∼ kěnéng? 可∼可能? Is it possible that ...?pref. non-; un-
bu inf. (used in r.v.)tīng∼dǒng 听∼懂 don't understand (by listening) See also ¹bù

4e0d.png
The Shuōwén Seal form of 不(​𠀚) bù/fǒu ‘no (higher)’ is said to depict a bird which flies/soars up into the sky (one can fly no higher) and circling/hovering above does not return back down to the earth (in this sense read 不 fǒu); the top line ​ is short for ​(​𠄞) shàng ‘(sky) above’ (upper extreme/limit), as in ​(​𢂇) dì ‘god/king’; and the bottom parts of the graph depict the body and wings of the bird, as in the inverted form ​(​𦤴) zhì ‘reach/attain (alight/land)’.
    Compare: ​ zhà ‘try to hide; hastily/suddenly’; ​ wú ‘stop! do not!’; in both of these characters the ​ component is said to signify restriction/prohibition (crossing out).
    In old texts 不 is used for words now wr. ​ or ​ (in which it is said to be the phonetic or phonosemantic).
    Note: An old usage of 不 for ​/​ fū ‘(botany) thalamus/receptacle/torus; calyx’ (​, ​, ​/​𣎴) seems to relate to the shape of the character, and some say this was the original meaning (HDZ). In botany, the stem of the flower is joined to the thalamus/receptacle/torus, above which is the sepals/calyx (from which the petals/flowers and fruit grow).
    Compare: ​𣎴 è/niè ‘tree stump’, in which the top central branch of ​ mù ‘tree’ is cut off; ​(​) bēi ‘cup’ (​ ‘chalice’).
    Note: In modern usage, if the syllable after 不 has a falling tone, then 不 bù (falling tone) becomes 不 bú (rising tone); for example, 不​ bùduì → búduì (for other “tone sandhi” rules, see ​ yī).
    “Picture of a flying bird...” —Karlgren(AD).
    “A bird that rises, flapping the wings, straight towards ​ the skies; ​。​。​。...It is now used (​ jiǎjiè) as an adverb of negation; ​。​。” —Wieger.
    HDZ: 不 : bù : (​) ​ (fū), ​不​, ​ (​, ​ è, ​, cf. ​𣎴 è); ​, ​; ​, 不​; (​) (​ (不​, 不​, 不​); ​, 不​, ​; 不​, 不​, 不​; 不​; ​; ​); (​) (​; ​); ​ (pī): ​; ​ (bǐ): ​ • fǒu : ​; ​ (cf. ䷋) • fōu : (​) ​不=​; (​) • fū : ​: ​
►references: Guǎngyùn:208.23,323.08,475.21,484.17; Wieger:133a; Karlgren:AD37,GSR999a; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:1.11.6; Mathews:5379; Kāngxī Zìdiǎn:76.15; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:006.0.04; Wáng(1993):41; EDOC:1
►components:
►Cantonese: bat\
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Unicode: U+4E0D
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