不敢

Chinese

		not; no	dare
trad. (不敢)		不	敢
simp. ^#(不敢)		不	敢

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bùgǎn

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄍㄢˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ gam²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bùgǎn
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄍㄢˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bùgǎn
  - Wade–Giles: pu⁴-kan³
  - Yale: bù-gǎn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bugaan
  - Palladius: бугань (buganʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ kän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: bat¹ gam²
  - Yale: bāt gám
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ gam²
  - Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ gem²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ kɐm³⁵/

Middle Chinese: pjuw|pjuwX|pjut kamX

Rime
Character	不	不	不	敢
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3	1/1
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	幫 (1)	幫 (1)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)	尤 (136)	物 (60)	談 (143)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Checked (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III	I
Fanqie	甫鳩切	方久切	分勿切	古覽切
Baxter	pjuw	pjuwX	pjut	kamX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pɨu/	/pɨu^X/	/pɨut̚/	/kɑm^X/
Pan Wuyun	/piu/	/piu^X/	/piut̚/	/kɑm^X/
Shao Rongfen	/piəu/	/piəu^X/	/piuət̚/	/kɑm^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/puw/	/puw^X/	/put̚/	/kam^X/
Li Rong	/piu/	/piu^X/	/piuət̚/	/kɑm^X/
Wang Li	/pĭəu/	/pĭəu^X/	/pĭuət̚/	/kɑm^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/pi̯ə̯u/	/pi̯ə̯u^X/	/pi̯uət̚/	/kɑm^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fōu	fǒu	fu	gǎn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	fau¹	fau²	fat¹	gam²

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*pə [k]ˤamʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*pɯ|pɯʔ|pɯ' klaːmʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	不	敢
Reading #	1/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bù	gǎn
Middle Chinese	‹ pjuw ›	‹ kam^X ›
Old Chinese	/*pə/	/*[k]ˁamʔ/
English	not	dare
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	不	不	不	敢
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3	1/1
No.	1025	1029	1048	3674
Phonetic component	不	不	不	敢
Rime group	之	之	物	談
Rime subdivision	0	0	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	不	缶	弗	敢
Old Chinese	/*pɯ/	/*pɯʔ/	/*pɯ'/	/*klaːmʔ/
Notes		象花柎與本同源	中古才促化	說文從爪又，古聲，金文從爭甘聲，此爲隸變

Verb

不敢

to not dare (to do something)
每天做一件你害怕不敢做的事。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
Měitiān zuò yī jiàn nǐ hàipà bùgǎn zuò de shì. [Pinyin]
Do one thing every day that you are afraid to do.

你不要以為我真不敢殺你，你不要激我。 [MSC, trad.]
你不要以为我真不敢杀你，你不要激我。 [MSC, simp.]
Nǐ bùyào yǐwéi wǒ zhēn bùgǎn shā nǐ, nǐ bùyào jī wǒ. [Pinyin]
Don't assume I'd hesitate to kill you — don't test me.
- 冥冥子規叫，微徑不敢取。 [MSC, trad.]
  冥冥子规叫，微径不敢取。 [MSC, simp.]
  From: 759 CE, Du Fu, At Dharma Mirror Temple (《法鏡寺》)
  Míngmíng zǐguī jiào, wēijìng bùgǎn qǔ. [Pinyin]
  Dark in the distance the cuckoo crows Go Go,
  The narrow path to the temple I dare not seek.
- 自壬辰至于五六年間，賊不敢直突於兩湖者，以舟師之扼其路也。今臣戰船尙有十二，出死力拒戰，則猶可爲也。 [Korean Literary Sinitic, trad.]
  From: Admiral Yi Sun-sin, 1597, quoted in《李忠武公全書》 (Collected Works of Yi, Duke of Loyalty and Martiality), 1795
  자 임진^(으로) 지우 오륙년 간^(에) 적^(이) 불감직돌어양호자^(는) 이주사지액기로야^(니이다). 금 신 전선^(이) 상유십이^(하니) 출사력거전^(이면) 즉 유가위야^(니이다).
  Ja Imjin[-euro] jiu o ryuk nyeon gan[-e], jeog[-i] bulgam jik dor eo Yangho ja[-neun], i jusa ji aek gi ro ya[-niida]. Geum sin jeonseon[-i] sang yu sibi[-hani], chul saryeok geojeon[-imyeon], jeuk yu ga wi ya[-niida]. [Sino-Korean]
  Through the five or six years after 1592, the enemy have not dared directly attack Jeolla and Chungcheong because our fleet guarded their route. Your servant still has twelve battleships today. If we defend with our dying strength, it can still be done.
(regional) cannot; must not; should not

Synonyms

(to not dare): (Cantonese) 唔敢 (m4 gam2), (Hakka, Hokkien, Teochew) 毋敢

Interjection

不敢

You flatter me; I wouldn't presume; I don't deserve this (praise, reward, etc.)

Derived terms

不敢問津 / 不敢问津 (bùgǎnwènjīn)
不敢當 / 不敢当 (bùgǎndāng)
不敢苟同 (bùgǎngǒutóng)
不敢越雷池一步 (bùgǎn yuè Léichí yībù)