保 - Wiktionary, the free dictionary


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See also: 俣

Stroke order
 

保 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+7, 9 strokes, cangjie input 人口木 (ORD), four-corner 26294, composition ⿰亻呆)

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 105, character 17
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 702
  • Dae Jaweon: page 222, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 160, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+4FDD
trad. 保
simp. # 保
alternative forms
Historical forms of the character 保
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script
       

j18772

j18773

j18774

j18775

j18776

j18777

j18778

j18779

j18780

j18781

j18782

j18783

j18784

j18785

j18786

j18787

j18788

j18789

j18790

j18791

j18792

j18793

j18794

j18795

b12171

b12172

b12173

b12174

b12175

b12176

b12177

b12178

b12179

b12180

b12181

b12182

b12183

b12184

b12185

b12186

b12187

b12188

b12189

b12191

b12192

b12193

b12194

b12195

b12196

b12197

b12198

b12199

b12200

b12201

b12202

b12203

b12204

b12205

b12206

b12207

b12208

b12209

b12210

b12211

b12212

b12213

b12214

b12215

b12216

b12217

b12218

b12219

b12220

b12221

b12222

b12223

b12224

b12225

b12226

b12227

b12228

b12229

b12230

b12231

b12232

b12233

b12234

b12235

b12236

b12237

b12238

b12239

b12240

b12241

s05653

s05654

s05655

Transcribed ancient scripts

L34905

L34906

L34907

L34908

L34909

L16820

L16821

L16822

L16823

L16824

L16825

L16826

L16827

L16828

L16829

L16830

L16831

L16832

L16833

References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Old Chinese
襃 *puː, *puː
保 *puːʔ
堡 *puːʔ
褓 *puːʔ
堢 *puːʔ
緥 *puːʔ
葆 *puːʔ
賲 *puːʔ
宲 *puːʔ
椺 *ɦmluːʔ, *ɢʷeːɡs, *ɢeːɡ

In the oracle script, this character was an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 人 (“person”) + 子 (“child”) – a person carrying a child on his back; to carry (a child) > to protect.

In early bronze inscriptions, 爪 (“hand”) was added to the person to emphasize that the person was carrying the child. This was later simplified into one or two strokes. The current form has two.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bəw (“to carry (on back or shoulders)”). Cognate with 抱 (OC *buːʔ, “to heft, hug”); see there for more (STEDT).

Note:

  • pó͘ - literary (Quanzhou);
  • pó - vernacular (Quanzhou).

Note:

  • bao2 - literary;
  • bo2 - vernacular.
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 保
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		bǎo
Middle
Chinese 		‹ pawX ›
Old
Chinese 		/*pˁuʔ/
English protect

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 保
Reading # 1/1
No. 318
Phonetic
component 		保
Rime
group 		幽
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		寶
Old
Chinese 		/*puːʔ/

保

  1. to raise; to rear
  2. to keep; to maintain
  3. to protect; to safeguard; to defend
    你要保大還是保小？ [MSC, trad.]
    你要保大还是保小？ [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ yào bǎo dà háishì bǎo xiǎo? [Pinyin]
    Do you want to save the mother (“the big one”) or the baby (“the small one”)? (a common line in obstetrics-themed dramas)
  4. to ensure; to guarantee
  5. guarantor
  6. Short for 保釋／保释 (bǎoshì, “to bail”).
  7. (historical) bao (a unit of the ancient administrative system, consisting of some 100 households)
  8. a surname: Bao
  • (to raise):
  • (to keep):
  • (to protect):
  • (to ensure):
  • (guarantor):

保

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. protection
  2. guarantee

保(たもつ) • (Tamotsu) 

  1. a male given name

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

Wikisource

保 (eumhun 지킬 보 (jikil bo))

  1. hanja form? of 보 (“protection”)
  2. hanja form? of 보 (“guarantee”)

保 (bau)

  1. Nôm form of bau (“beautiful”).

    百景眉每式花保

    Pác cảnh mì mọi thức hoa bau
    A hundred different sceneries with all kinds of beautiful flowers
  2. Nôm form of bau (“fast”).

    馬𨃅否保否𲋄流为痚

    Mạ phjải bấu bau, bấu phong lưu vì héo
    The horse doesn't run fast or nobly beautiful it's skinny

保 (bấu)

  1. Nôm form of bấu (“not”).

    保聀塘𫠯𪫆宮閣

    Bấu chắc tàng lồng mừa cung các
    I do not know the way back to the palace
  • Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎[2] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

保: Hán Nôm readings: bảo, bầu, bửu

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.