夫 (fū) — husband (in compounds such as 夫妻, 丈夫); man (in compounds such as 匹夫); worker (in compounds such as 农夫, 渔夫)
Definition
夫 (fū) is a bound classical form meaning 'man / husband' that only appears in set compounds — never used alone. Read 丈夫 as a unit, not as two characters with this same sense.
bound form
husband (in compounds such as 夫妻, 丈夫)man (in compounds such as 匹夫)worker (in compounds such as 农夫, 渔夫)
Examples
- 。fū Qī zhī jiān yīng gāi hù xiāng lǐ jiě.Husband and wife should understand each other.
- 。Zhè wèi nóng fū měi tiān zǎo qǐ zhòng tián.This farmer gets up early every day to farm.
- ，。Zài gǔ dài, yú fū kào bǔ yú wéi shēng.In ancient times, fishermen lived by fishing.
Origin
Pictograph六书liùshū
象形xiàngxíngA drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.
假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.
夫 originally drew a man. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write a pronoun, so the picture and the pronoun meaning are unrelated.
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