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毋
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Translingual
Han character
毋 (Kangxi radical 80, 毋+0, 4 strokes, cangjie input 田十 (WJ), four-corner 77500, composition ⿻⿻𠃋𠃌𠂇(GHTV) or ⿻⿻𠃋𠃌十(JK))
- Kangxi radical #80, ⽏.
Derived characters
- Appendix:Chinese radical/毋
- 𥁉, 𣏭, 𩬍, 𦰓
References
- Kangxi Dictionary: page 588, character 23
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 16721
- Dae Jaweon: page 980, character 29
- Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2380, character 1
- Unihan data for U+6BCB
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Chinese
Glyph origin
In the oracle bone script, 母 (“mother”) was borrowed to represent this character. It was later specialized to distinguish it from “mother”, replacing the two dots with one stroke.
Etymology
Cognate with 無 (OC *ma, “to not have”). Already in Zhou time, phonetically confused with and read like 無 (OC *ma).
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese (Jyutping): mou4
- Hakka
- Eastern Min (BUC): ù
- Southern Min
- Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): 6wu
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: wú
- Zhuyin: ㄨˊ
- Tongyong Pinyin: wú
- Wade–Giles: wu2
- Yale: wú
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wu
- Palladius: у (u)
- Sinological IPA (key): /u³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
- Jyutping: mou4
- Yale: mòuh
- Cantonese Pinyin: mou4
- Guangdong Romanization: mou4
- Sinological IPA (key): /mou̯²¹/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
- Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mù / m̀
- Hakka Romanization System: muˇ / mˇ
- Hagfa Pinyim: mu2 / m2
- Sinological IPA: /mu¹¹/, /m¹¹/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
- Hakka Romanization System: mu / m
- Sinological IPA: /mu⁵⁵/, /m⁵⁵/
- (Meixian)
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
Note:
- Sixian:
- mù - literary;
- m̀ - vernacular.
- Hailu:
- mu - literary;
- m - vernacular.
- Meixian:
- vu2 - literary;
- m2 - vernacular.
- Middle Chinese: mju
- Old Chinese
- (Baxter–Sagart): /*mo/
- (Zhengzhang): /*ma/
Definitions
毋
- (literary) do not, don't
- 宜未雨而綢繆，毋臨渴而掘井。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: 朱子家訓 (The Familial Rules of Zhuzi)
- Yí wèi yǔ ér chóumóu, wú lín kě ér jué jǐng. [Pinyin]
- It is proper to bind [the window] tightly when it is not yet raining. Do not dig a well when you are about to be thirsty. (I.e., one should prepare before it is too late. See 未雨綢繆／未雨绸缪 (wèiyǔchóumóu) and 臨渴掘井／临渴掘井 (línkějuéjǐng).)
宜未雨而绸缪，毋临渴而掘井。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
- (literary or Hakka, Hokkien) not
- 我毋捌字。 [Hokkien] ― Góa m̄ pat-lī. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī] ― I'm illiterate (literally: I don't know characters)
-
- 我毋是勇敢的人 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad. and simp.]
- góa m̄-sī ióng-kám ê lâng [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
- I am not a person of courage
- (literary) alternative form of 無 / 无 (“to not have”)
- a surname
Synonyms
Compounds
- 不自由毋寧死 / 不自由毋宁死 (bù zìyóu wúnìng sǐ)
- 四毋
- 寧缺毋濫 / 宁缺毋滥 (nìngquēwúlàn)
- 將毋 / 将毋
- 少安毋躁
- 巨毋霸 (jùwúbà)
- 毋乃 (wúnǎi)
- 毋免 (m̄-bián)
- 毋寧 / 毋宁 (wúnìng)
- 毋庸 (wúyōng)
- 毋庸置疑 (wúyōngzhìyí)
- 毋得
- 毋忘在莒 (wúwàngzàijǔ)
- 毋才 (m̄-chiah)
- 毋是 (m̄ sī)
- 毋望之福
- 毋望之禍 / 毋望之祸
- 毋枉毋縱 / 毋枉毋纵
- 毋翼而飛 / 毋翼而飞
- 毋著 (m̀-chho̍k)
- 毋過 / 毋过 (m̄-kù)
- 毋須 / 毋须 (wúxū)
- 豬毋大，大對狗去 / 猪毋大，大对狗去 (ti m̄ tōa, tōa tùi káu khì)
Descendants
- →? Vietnamese: mựa
References
- Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A02097
- “毋”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
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Japanese
Kanji
毋
Readings
Usage notes
Not used in Japanese shinjitai in isolation – instead the unsimplified 母 is used – but simplified form is used universally in compound jōyō characters, such as 毎, 海.
However, not used in hyōgaiji, which are written in kyūjitai, such as 姆.
Korean
Hanja
毋 • (mu) (hangeul 무, revised mu, McCune–Reischauer mu, Yale mu)
- do not
- not
- surname
- rad. 80
Vietnamese
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