仆 (pú): servant

Measure Word

一个仆人 gè

Meanings

1 servant
2 attendant

Characters

仆

pú

servant; attendant

Examples

古代大户人家都有仆人服侍。

Gǔdài dà hù rénjiā dōu yǒu púrén fúshì.

In ancient times, wealthy households had servants.

他甘愿做这项事业的仆。

Tā gānyuàn zuò zhèxiàng shìyè de pú.

He was willing to serve as a servant to this cause.

Tips

usage

仆 alone is relatively rare; it typically appears in compounds like 仆人 (servant) or 公仆 (public servant). Note that 仆 also has another reading pū meaning to fall forward.

Components

radical

亻 rén

person (radical form of 人)

Left person radical — side-form of 人. A 仆 is a servant or attendant, by definition a person. The simplified 仆 also absorbed the meaning of the complex traditional 僕 (servant). In its other reading pū it means 'to fall forward,' still about a human body.

phonetic

卜 bǔ

to divine; oracle crack

Right 卜 supplies the sound — bǔ drifting to pú via b/p alternation. 卜 pictures the crack on a heated oracle bone. Pure phonetic here; the divination meaning has no link to servants. 仆 also serves as the simplified form of 僕, which had a more complex phonetic.