俘

俘 U+4FD8, 俘 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4FD8 ← 俗 [U+4FD7] CJK Unified Ideographs 俙 → [U+4FD9]

Translingual

Han character

俘 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+7, 9 strokes, cangjie input 人月弓木 (OBND), four-corner 2224₇, composition ⿰亻孚)

1. prisoner of war
2. take as prisoner

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 105, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 697
• Dae Jaweon: page 222, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 164, character 2
• Unihan data for U+4FD8

Chinese

simp. and trad.		俘

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 俘
Shang	Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Warring States			Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Small seal script
Oracle bone script j19199 j19200 j19201 j19202 Bronze inscriptions b12410 Small seal script s05882
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).

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

Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *pʰuw): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 孚 (OC *pʰuw, “to capture”) – to capture. Originally written 孚.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fú (fu²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄨˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fu¹
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): fù

  (Hailu, HRS): fu

• Eastern Min (BUC): hŭ
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): hu²
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): hû / hu

  (Teochew, Peng'im): hu¹

---

• 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/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: fu¹
    • Yale: fū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: fu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fuː⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: fù
    • Hakka Romanization System: fu^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: fu²
    • Sinological IPA: /fu¹¹/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: fu
    • Sinological IPA: /fu⁵⁵/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: hŭ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hu⁵⁵/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian, Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: hu²
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: hú
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hu¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, variant in Taiwan, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hû
    • Tâi-lô: hû
    • Phofsit Daibuun: huu
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /hu²³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou, Taipei, Xiamen): /hu²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /hu¹³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hu
    • Tâi-lô: hu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hw
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /hu⁴⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: hu¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: hu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hu³³/

---

• Middle Chinese: phju

Rime
Character	俘
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	滂 (2)
Final (韻)	虞 (24)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	芳無切
Baxter	phju
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pʰɨo/
Pan Wuyun	/pʰio/
Shao Rongfen	/pʰio/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/pʰuə̆/
Li Rong	/pʰio/
Wang Li	/pʰĭu/
Bernhard Karlgren	/pʰi̯u/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fū
Expected Cantonese Reflex	fu1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*pʰuw/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	俘
Reading #	1/1
No.	3355
Phonetic component	孚
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	敷
Old Chinese	/*pʰuw/
Notes	更古音滯後

Definitions

俘

1. to capture (enemy at war)
2. prisoner of war

Compounds

• 俘囚
• 俘擄 / 俘掳
• 俘獲 / 俘获 (fúhuò)
• 俘虜 / 俘虏 (fúlǔ)
• 俘馘
• 傷俘 / 伤俘
• 受俘
• 戰俘 / 战俘 (zhànfú)
• 獻俘 / 献俘
• 被俘 (bèifú)

References

• “俘”, 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.
• “Entry #7938”, in 臺灣客語辭典 [Dictionary of Taiwan Hakka] (overall work in Chinese and Hakka), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2022.
• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “俘”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 68.

Japanese

Kanji

俘

(Hyōgai kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: ふ (fu)
• Kan-on: ふ (fu)
• Kun: とりこ (toriko, 俘)

Noun

俘(とりこ) • (toriko) 

1. prisoner, captive
2. slave to one's emotions

Alternative forms

• 虜

Korean

Hanja

俘 • (bu) (hangeul 부, revised bu, McCune–Reischauer pu)

1. captive