老夫 (lǎo fū) — (first-person pronoun, used by an elderly man) I, this old man

Definition

老夫 is a self-referential pronoun used by an elderly man to mean 'I, this old man' — a literary, slightly humorous or self-deprecating register, unlike plain 我.

noun
(first-person pronoun, used by an elderly man) Ithis old man

Examples

  • 老夫，。
    lǎo fū Nián shì yǐ gāo, bú biàn yuǎn xíng.
    This old man is advanced in years and not fit for long journeys.
  • 老夫。
    lǎo fū Zài cǐ děng hòu duō shí le.
    I, this old fellow, have been waiting here for quite a while.
  • 老夫，。
    lǎo fū Suī lǎo, shàng néng fàn yě.
    Though I am old, I can still eat heartily.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

老lǎoold
夫fūman

老夫: 老 old and 夫 man give an elderly man speaking of himself.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

A 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.

Open 夫 →

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