仆 (pú) · servant, attendant

Measure Word

一个仆人 gè

Meanings

1 servant
2 attendant

Characters

仆

pú

servant; attendant

Examples

HSK 7-9

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.

HSK 7-9

他甘愿做这项事业的仆。

Tā gānyuàn zuò zhè xiàng 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.