夫
부수: 大
획수: 4획
夫 refers to the roles of adult men, namely tradesman and husband.
夫 = 大 + 一
X = semantic + distinguishing mark
• 大 depicts a person standing and represents the meaning ‘adult person’.
• 一 is a distinguishing mark used to differentiate 夫 from 大 and is not regarded as having any meaning. Although contrary to this, some scholars suggest the mark represents a horizontal hairpin, which is a sign that a male has reached adulthood.
Evolution:
夫 = adult male ➔ tradesman ➔ husband
Mnemonic
Imagine the distinguishing mark 一 as a hat which distinguishes a job (like a fisherman) 夫 from an ordinary man 大.
Vocabulary
| 大丈夫 | 대장부 | a manly man |
| 士大夫 | 사대부 | a nobleman |
| 凡夫 | 범부 | a mortal man |
| 農夫 | 농부 | a farmer; peasant |
| 漁夫 | 어부 | a fisherman |
| 鑛夫 | 광부 | a miner |
| 水夫 | 수부 | a sailor |
| 人夫 | 인부 | a labourer |
| 潛水夫 | 잠수부 | an underwater diver |
| 工夫 | 공부 | study |
| 夫婦 | 부부 | husband and wife; a married couple |
| 夫人 | 부인 | a(nother) man’s wife |
| 妹夫 | 매부 | the husband of one’s sister |
| 兄夫 | 형부 | the husband of one’s elder sister |
| 姑母夫 | 고모부 | the husband of one’s paternal aunt |
| 姨母夫 | 이모부 | the husband of one’s maternal aunt |
| 姦夫 | 간부 | an adulterous husband |
Additional notes
The reason why 工夫 (to study) uses 夫 has to do with following the teachings of a master, be it a tradesman or scholar.
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Bibliography
Affiliate links help support uK.
— Daum 사전, [s.v. 夫].
— Grant, B.K. (1982). A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja, [s.v. 78]. Seoul: Hollym.
— Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters, [s.v. 夫, 大, 一].
— Seely, C., Henshall, K.G., & Fan, J. (2016). The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji: Remembering and Understanding the 2,136 Standard Japanese Characters, [s.v. 601]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.