谱 (pǔ): musical score; sheet music

Measure Word

一本谱 běn

Meanings

1 musical score; sheet music
2 a chart; a manual; a register
3 confidence; certainty (colloquial)

Characters

谱

pǔ

score; chart; record; genealogy

Examples

你能看谱吗？

Nǐ néng kàn pǔ ma?

Can you read sheet music?

这件事我心里没谱。

Zhè jiàn shì wǒ xīnlǐ méipǔ.

I have no idea about this matter. (I'm not confident.)

他说的话太不靠谱了。

Tā shuō dehuà tài bùkàopǔ le.

What he said is too unreliable.

Tips

usage

靠谱 (kàopǔ, reliable) and 不靠谱 (bù kàopǔ, unreliable) are extremely common colloquial expressions. 没谱 (méi pǔ) means 'no clue' or 'uncertain.'

Components

radical

讠 yán

speech; words (radical form of 言)

Left speech radical — the simplified two-stroke form of 言, used at the left margin. Puts 谱 in the speech-and-record family with 记 (record), 译 (translate), 诠 (annotate), 谋 (plan). The radical signals that this character has to do with verbal or written records — a manual, register, or notation.

phonetic

普 pǔ

general; widespread (here phonetic+semantic)

Right 普 supplies the sound pǔ with no drift, and contributes a fitting semantic flavour: 普 means 'general, widespread,' matching a 谱 that systematically lays out all the entries — a complete chart, family tree, or musical score that covers the whole field. Same phonetic appears in 谱's siblings 浦 (riverbank), 圃 (garden plot).