浮

浮	U+6D6E, 浮 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6D6E

Translingual

Han character

浮 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 水月弓木 (EBND), four-corner 3214₇, composition ⿰氵孚)

Derived characters

𠸷, 𬈽, 𤂆, 𭳄, 𪃽, 𦷰, 𦋵, 𮊑, 𥰛, 㐢

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 624, character 23
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17487
Dae Jaweon: page 1022, character 7
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1629, character 4
Unihan data for U+6D6E

Chinese

simp. and trad.		浮
alternative forms		鳧／凫

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 浮
Spring and Autumn	Warring States
Bronze inscriptions	Qin slip script

Characters in the same phonetic series (孚) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
殍	brɯwʔ, browʔ, *pʰuw
脬	*pʰruː
捊	bruː, buw
莩	browʔ, pʰuw
哹	pu, bu
浮	*bu
蜉	*bu
桴	bu, pʰuw
罦	bu, pʰuw
琈	*bu
粰	*bu
烰	*bu
艀	*bu
俘	*pʰuw
孚	*pʰuw
孵	*pʰuw
稃	*pʰuw
郛	*pʰuw
筟	*pʰuw

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *bu) : semantic 水 (“river”) + phonetic 孚 (OC *pʰuw).

Etymology

Related to 漂 (OC *pʰew, *pʰews, “to float, drift”); see there for more.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): fú (fu²)

(Zhuyin): ㄈㄨˊ

(Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): fu²

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): фу (fu, I)
Cantonese (Jyutping): fau⁴ / pou⁴
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): fèu / phò / fù / phèu / phù
Eastern Min (BUC): pèu / pù
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): phû / hû / hô͘

(Teochew, Peng'im): pu⁵
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶vu; ⁶veu
Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): hou² / bau²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: fú
  - Zhuyin: ㄈㄨˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: fú
  - Wade–Giles: fu²
  - Yale: fú
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fwu
  - Palladius: фу (fu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /fu³⁵/
- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: fu²
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: fu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /fu²¹/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: фу (fu, I)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /fou²⁴/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: fau⁴ / pou⁴
  - Yale: fàuh / pòuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: fau⁴ / pou⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: feo⁴ / pou⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɐu̯²¹/, /pʰou̯²¹/

Note:

fau4 - literary;
pou4 - vernacular.

Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: fèu / phò / fù
  - Hakka Romanization System: feu^ˇ / po^ˇ / fu^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: feu² / po² / fu²
  - Sinological IPA: /feu̯¹¹/, /pʰo¹¹/, /fu¹¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: fèu / phò / phèu / phù / fù
  - Hakka Romanization System: feu^ˇ / po^ˇ / peu^ˇ / pu^ˇ / fu^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: feu² / po² / peu² / pu² / fu²
  - Sinological IPA: /feu̯¹¹/, /pʰo¹¹/, /pʰeu̯¹¹/, /pʰu¹¹/, /fu¹¹/

Note:

fèu, phò, phèu, phù - vernacular;
fù - literary.

Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: pèu / pù
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰɛu⁵³/, /pʰu⁵³/

Note:

pèu - literary;
pù - vernacular.

Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: phû
  - Tâi-lô: phû
  - Phofsit Daibuun: phuu
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /pʰu¹³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /pʰu²³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Taipei): /pʰu²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hû
  - Tâi-lô: hû
  - Phofsit Daibuun: huu
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hu²³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /hu¹³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Taipei): /hu²⁴/
- (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hô͘
  - Tâi-lô: hôo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: hoo
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hɔ²³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /hɔ²⁴/

Note:

phû - vernacular;
hû - literary.

(Teochew)
- Peng'im: pu⁵
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: phû
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰu⁵⁵/

Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶vu; ⁶veu
  - MiniDict: vu^去; veu^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³vu; ³veu
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /vu²³/, /vɤ²³/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: hou² / bau²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /xəu̯¹³/, /pɒu̯¹³/

Note:

hou2 - literary;
bau2 - vernacular.

Middle Chinese: bjuw

Rime
Character	浮
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	並 (3)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	縛謀切
Baxter	bjuw
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/bɨu/
Pan Wuyun	/biu/
Shao Rongfen	/biəu/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/buw/
Li Rong	/biu/
Wang Li	/bĭəu/
Bernhard Karlgren	/bʱi̯ə̯u/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fóu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	fau⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*m.b(r)u/

(Zhengzhang): /*bu/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	浮
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	fú
Middle Chinese	‹ bjuw ›
Old Chinese	/*m.b(r)u/
English	float (v.)
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	浮
Reading #	1/1
No.	3346
Phonetic component	孚
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	浮
Old Chinese	/*bu/

Definitions

浮

to float
浮在水面 ― fú zài shuǐmiàn ― float on (top of) water

浮雲／浮云 ― fúyún ― floating clouds
(dialectal) to swim
浮水 ― fúshuǐ ― to swim
superficial
浮土 ― fútǔ ― surface soil
temporary
movable
浮財／浮财 ― fúcái ― movable property
frivolous
hollow; inflated
浮誇／浮夸 ― fúkuā ― boastful; pompous
excessive; surplus
(Hokkien, Taiwanese Hakka) to deep-fry
alt. forms: 烰 (fú)
(Hokkien) to boil (food)
alt. forms: 烰 (fú)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 炸 (“to deep-fry”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		炸, 油炸
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	炸
	Taiwan	炸
	Singapore	炸
Cantonese	Guangzhou	炸
	Hong Kong	炸
	Singapore (Guangfu)	炸
Hakka	Meixian	炸
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	浮
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	炸
	Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian)	浮
	Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian)	浮
	Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian)	浮, 炸
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	浮
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	浮
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	浮
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	糋
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	炸, 浮
Southern Min	Xiamen	糋, 浮, 乍
	Quanzhou	糋, 浮, 乍
	Zhangzhou	糋, 浮, 乍
	Tainan	糋, 浮, 乍 GT
	Penang (Hokkien)	糋
	Singapore (Hokkien)	糋
	Manila (Hokkien)	糋
	Chaozhou	炸
Wu	Shanghai	炸, 氽, 煠
	Suzhou	氽, 煠
	Wuxi	煠
	Hangzhou	煠, 氽
	Ningbo	煠, 氽
	Ningbo (Zhenhai)	煠
	Ningbo (Fenghua)	煠
	Zhoushan	煠
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

Compounds

Descendants

→ Proto-Tai: *wuːᴬ (“to float”)
- Thai: ฟู (fuu, “to float, to swell”)

References

“浮”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[2], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Shinjitai	浮
Kyūjitai ^[1]	浮󠄁 浮+`󠄁`^? (Adobe-Japan1)
	浮󠄃 浮+`󠄃`^? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

Kanji

浮

(Jōyō kanji)

to float

Readings

Go-on: ぶ (bu)
Kan-on: ふう (fū)
Kan’yō-on: ふ (fu, Jōyō)
Kun: うかぶ (ukabu, 浮かぶ, Jōyō)、うかべる (ukaberu, 浮かべる, Jōyō)、うかれる (ukareru, 浮かれる, Jōyō)、うき (uki, 浮き)、うく (uku, 浮く, Jōyō)、すぎる (sugiru, 浮ぎる)
Nanori: ちか (chika)

References

^ “浮”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2024

Korean

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [pu]
Phonetic hangul: [부]

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

浮

Wikisource

浮 (eumhun 뜰 부 (tteul bu))

hanja form^? of 부 (“to float”)

Vietnamese

Han character

浮: Hán Nôm readings: phù, nổi

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

[1] “浮”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2024

[1]