不穀

Chinese

		not; no	grain; corn
trad. (不穀)		不	穀
simp. (不谷)		不	谷

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùgǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄍㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ guk¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùgǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄍㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùgǔ
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-ku³
    • Yale: bù-gǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buguu
    • Palladius: бугу (bugu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ guk¹
    • Yale: bāt gūk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ guk⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ gug¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ kʊk̚⁵/

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• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*pə  [k]ˤok/

  (Zhengzhang): /*pɯ|pɯʔ|pɯ'  kloːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	不	穀
Reading #	1/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bù	gǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ pjuw ›	‹ kuwk ›
Old Chinese	/*pə/	/*[k]ˁok/
English	not	grain
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	穀
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3	1/1
No.	1025	1029	1048	7423
Phonetic component	不	不	不	殻
Rime group	之	之	物	屋
Rime subdivision	0	0	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	不	缶	弗	穀
Old Chinese	/*pɯ/	/*pɯʔ/	/*pɯ'/	/*kloːɡ/
Notes		象花柎與本同源	中古才促化

Pronoun

不穀

1. (literary, humble) I; "no grain" or "not good", (reserved for use by the king)

   • 公子若反晉國，則何以報不穀？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     公子若反晋国，则何以报不谷？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Gōngzǐ ruò fǎn jìnguó, zé héyǐ bào bùgǔ? [Pinyin]

     If you can return to Jin, how will you repay me?

   • 不穀國雖小，已悉發之矣。願大國遂肆志於秦，不穀將以楚殉韓。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     不谷国虽小，已悉发之矣。愿大国遂肆志于秦，不谷将以楚殉韩。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Bùgǔ guó suī xiǎo, yǐ xī fā zhī yǐ. Yuàn dàguó suì sì zhì yú qín, bùgǔ jiāng yǐ chǔ xùn hán. [Pinyin]

     Even though my country is small, we have already dispatched all of our troops. I hope your country can fight against Qin at will; I will sacrifice the State of Chu for Han.

Usage notes

Often used by the viscounts and kings of Chu.

Synonyms

• 寡人 (guǎrén)
• 孤 (gū)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (不穀):

• → Vietnamese: bất cốc (不穀)