# 卜

| 卜 | U+535C, &#21340; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-535C |
| ← 卛 [U+535B] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 卝 → [U+535D] |
| ⼘ | U+2F18, &#12056; KANGXI RADICAL DIVINATION |
| ← ⼗ [U+2F17] | Kangxi Radicals | ⼙ → [U+2F19] |

## Translingual
### Han character

卜 (Kangxi radical 25, 卜+0, 2 strokes, cangjie input 卜 (Y), four-corner 2300$_0$, composition ⿰丨丶)
* Kangxi radical #25, ⼘.

#### Derived characters

* Appendix:Chinese radical/卜
* 仆, 𫨦, 圤, 处, 外, 𭑧, 𫶽, 扑, 𣱶, 𣅃, 朴, 𤆊, 㺪, 𦘱, 𭁅, 䃼, 𪽁, 𤰘, 𥃨, 𥐚, 𥝒, 𥩖, 补, 𫃚, 𦓦, 虲, 訃(讣), 𧴤, 赴, 䟔, 𨈒, 𨊣, 𤱈, 釙(钋), 𩚅(𬲥), 𩡭, 𩨓, 𩱻, 𬵂, 𪋿, 𪐙, 𭻣
* 𠚬, 𠚩, 𭭄, 𨾇, 鳪, 盀, 㓀, 𪢱, 𭶺, 𫁰, 𤴩, 𡆥

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: page 157, character 25
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2774
* Dae Jaweon: page 361, character 15
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 91, character 11
* Unihan data for U+535C

## Chinese
### Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 卜 :
| Shang | Western Zhou | Warring States | Warring States | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) | Liushutong (compiled in Ming) |
| Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Chu slip and silk script | Qin slip script | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
| | Old Chinese |
| 仆 | *pʰoːɡs, *pʰus, *pʰoɡs, *bɯːɡ, *pʰoːɡ |
| 赴 | *pʰoɡs |
| 訃 | *pʰoɡs |
| 朴 | *pʰroːɡ |
| 圤 | *pʰroːɡ |
| 卜 | *poːɡ |
| 鳪 | *poːɡ |
| 扑 | *pʰoːɡ |
| 攴 | *pʰoːɡ, *pʰroːɡ |
Perhaps a pictogram (象形) of a crack in an oracle bone, used for divination in ancient China.
Officially adopted as the simplified form of 蔔 in the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (《漢字簡化方案》) in 1956.

### Etymology 1

"Cracking" of a bone or tortoise shell in fire: "to divine by oracle bone" (Schuessler, 2007). Compare Galo -`buk (“to burst”), Galo -`puk (“to pop”), Mizo puak (“to explode; to burst”) (STEDT).

#### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): bǔ (bu$^3$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˇ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): buk$^1$
* Hakka
    (Sixian, PFS): puk
    (Meixian, Guangdong): bug$^5$
* Eastern Min (BUC): bók
* Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): borh$^6$
* Southern Min
    (Hokkien, POJ): pok / poh
    (Teochew, Peng'im): bog$^4$
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^7$poq
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: bǔ
*** Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: bǔ
*** Wade–Giles: pu$^3$
*** Yale: bǔ
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buu
*** Palladius: бу (bu)
*** Sinological IPA : /pu²¹⁴/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: buk$^1$
*** Yale: būk
*** Cantonese Pinyin: buk$^7$
*** Guangdong Romanization: bug$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /pʊk̚⁵/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: puk
*** Hakka Romanization System: bug$^ˋ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: bug$^5$
*** Sinological IPA: /puk̚²/
** (Meixian)
*** Guangdong: bug$^5$
*** Sinological IPA: /pʊk̚¹/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: bók
*** Sinological IPA : /pouʔ²⁴/
* Puxian Min
** (Putian)
*** Pouseng Ping'ing: borh$^6$
*** Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: bo̤h
*** Sinological IPA : /pɒʔ¹/
** (Xianyou)
*** Pouseng Ping'ing: borh$^6$
*** Sinological IPA : /pɒʔ²/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pok
*** Tâi-lô: pok
*** Phofsit Daibuun: pog
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /pɔk̚⁵/
*** IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /pɔk̚³²/
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: poh
*** Tâi-lô: poh
*** Phofsit Daibuun: poiq
*** IPA (Taipei): /poʔ³²/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /pɤʔ³²/
* poh - also written as 博, incl. surname (Taiwan);
* pok - incl. surname (Mainland).
* Dialectal data
| Variety | Location | edit卜 |
| Mandarin | Beijing | /pu²¹⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Harbin | /pʰu²¹³/ |
| Mandarin | Tianjin | /pʰu¹³/ |
| Mandarin | Jinan | /pu⁵⁵/ |
| Mandarin | Qingdao | /pu⁵⁵/ |
| Mandarin | Zhengzhou | /pu⁵³/ |
| Mandarin | Xi'an | /po²¹/ |
| Mandarin | Xining | /pv̩⁴⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Yinchuan | /puə¹³/ 姓 /pu¹³/ ～算子 |
| Mandarin | Lanzhou | /pə¹³/ |
| Mandarin | Ürümqi | /pʰu⁵¹/ |
| Mandarin | Wuhan | /pʰu²¹³/ |
| Mandarin | Chengdu | /pu¹³/ |
| Mandarin | Guiyang | /pʰu²¹/ |
| Mandarin | Kunming | /pʰu³¹/ |
| Mandarin | Nanjing | /puʔ⁵/ |
| Mandarin | Hefei | /pʰəʔ⁵/ |
| Jin | Taiyuan | /pəʔ²/ |
| Jin | Pingyao | /pʌʔ¹³/ |
| Jin | Hohhot | /pəʔ⁴³/ ～拉 /pei⁵⁵/ 萝～ |
| Wu | Shanghai | /poʔ⁵/ |
| Wu | Suzhou | /poʔ⁵/ |
| Wu | Hangzhou | /pʰoʔ⁵/ |
| Wu | Wenzhou | /po²¹³/ |
| Hui | Shexian | /pɔʔ²¹/ |
| Hui | Tunxi | /pʰu⁵/ |
| Xiang | Changsha | /pʰu²⁴/ |
| Xiang | Xiangtan | /pʰu²⁴/ |
| Gan | Nanchang | |
| Hakka | Meixian | /puk̚¹/ |
| Hakka | Taoyuan | /puk̚²²/ |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | /pok̚⁵/ |
| Cantonese | Nanning | /pʰuk̚⁵⁵/ |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | /puk̚⁵/ |
| Min | Xiamen (Hokkien) | /pɔk̚³²/ /poʔ³²/ |
| Min | Fuzhou (Eastern Min) | /pɔuʔ²³/ |
| Min | Jian'ou (Northern Min) | /pʰu²⁴/ |
| Min | Shantou (Teochew) | /pok̚²/ |
| Min | Haikou (Hainanese) | /ʔbɔk̚⁵/ /ʔbak̚⁵/ |
* Middle Chinese: puwk
Rime :
| Character | 卜 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 幫 (1) |
| Final (韻) | 屋 (3) |
| Tone (調) | Checked (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | I |
| Fanqie | 博木切 |
| Baxter | puwk |
| Reconstructions ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /puk̚/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /puk̚/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /puk̚/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /pəwk̚/ |
| Li Rong | /puk̚/ |
| Wang Li | /puk̚/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /puk̚/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | bu |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | buk$^1$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*pˤok/
    (Zhengzhang): /*poːɡ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 卜 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | bǔ |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ puwk › |
| Old Chinese | /*pˁok/ |
| English | divine (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 | 卜 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 998 |
| Phonetic component | 卜 |
| Rime group | 屋 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 卜 |
| Old Chinese | /*poːɡ/ |

#### Definitions

卜
* to divine
    卜卦 ― bǔguà ― to divine
    卜筮 ― bǔshì ― to divine
    卜辭／卜辞 ― bǔcí ― divining inscription
    From: The Book of Documents, circa 4th – 3rd century BCE
    Yǔ wéi yǐmǎo, zhāo zhì yú Luòshī. Wǒ bǔ Héshuò Lí shuǐ. [Pinyin]
    On the day Yi-mao, I came in the morning to this capital of Luo. I (first) divined by the shell concerning (the ground about) the li-water on the north of the He.
* (literary) to foretell; to predict
    預卜／预卜 ― yùbǔ ― to predict
    前途未卜 ― qiántúwèibǔ ― the prospects are unknown
    生死未卜 ― shēngsǐwèibǔ ― no one knows whether the person is dead or alive
* (literary) to choose
    卜宅 ― bǔzhái ― to choose a place to live
    卜居 ― bǔjū ― to choose a place to live
* a surname

#### Compounds

* 不卜可知
* 前途未卜
* 十卜 (sap6 bok1) (Cantonese)
* 卜人
* 卜兒 / 卜儿
* 卜卜
* 卜卦 (bǔguà)
* 卜吉
* 卜夜卜晝 / 卜夜卜昼
* 卜婿
* 卜宅
* 卜居 (bǔjū)
* 卜年 (bǔnián)
* 卜度
* 卜征
* 卜日
* 卜易
* 卜晝卜夜 / 卜昼卜夜
* 卜珓 (bǔjiào)
* 卜祝
* 卜窀穸
* 卜筮 (bǔshì)
* 卜算
* 卜築 / 卜筑
* 卜老
* 卜者
* 卜課 / 卜课 (bǔkè)
* 卜辭 / 卜辞 (bǔcí)
* 卜鄰 / 卜邻 (bǔlín)
* 占卜 (zhānbǔ)
* 吉凶未卜
* 吉卜賽人 / 吉卜赛人 (jíbǔsàirén)
* 問卜 / 问卜 (wènbǔ)
* 太卜
* 存亡未卜
* 成都賣卜 / 成都卖卜
* 拉卜楞
* 未卜 (wèibǔ)
* 未卜先知 (wèibǔxiānzhī)
* 枚卜
* 死生未卜
* 殷墟卜辭
* 求神問卜 / 求神问卜 (qiúshénwènbǔ)
* 油花卜
* 狼卜食
* 玉枝卜壽 / 玉枝卜寿
* 羊卜
* 老醫少卜 / 老医少卜
* 耳卜
* 貞卜文字 / 贞卜文字
* 貨卜 / 货卜
* 賣卜 / 卖卜
* 賣卜測字 / 卖卜测字
* 醫卜星相 / 医卜星相
* 響卜 / 响卜
* 預卜 / 预卜 (yùbǔ)
* 鳥卜 / 鸟卜
* 龜卜 / 龟卜 (guībǔ)

### Etymology 2

* For pronunciation and definitions of 卜 – see 蔔 (“carrot”). (This character is the simplified form of 蔔).
* Notes:Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore.Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

### Etymology 3

* For pronunciation and definitions of 卜 – see 欲 (“(Min) to want (to do); about to”). (This character is a variant form of 欲).

### References

* “卜”, 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.

## Japanese
### Kanji

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

#### Readings

* Go-on: ほく (hoku)
* Kan-on: ほく (hoku)
* Kan’yō-on: ぼく (boku)
* Kun: うらなう (uranau, 卜う)、うらない (uranai)

### Etymology 1

* Kanji in this term
* 卜
* うらない Jinmeiyō
* kun'yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 卜 – see the following entry. :
| 【占うらない】 | [noun] fortune-telling |
(This term, 卜, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) :

### Etymology 2

* Kanji in this term
* 卜
* ぼく Jinmeiyō
* kan'yōon

#### Noun

卜(ぼく) • (boku)
* (archaic) fortune-telling
* (archaic) choosing

##### Derived terms

* 卜(ぼく)する (bokusuru, “tell fortunes”)

### Etymology 3

* Kanji in this term
* 卜
* うら Jinmeiyō
* kun'yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 卜 – see the following entry. :
| 【占うら】S | [noun] (archaic) fortune-telling |
(This term, 卜, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) :

## Korean
### Hanja

卜 (eumhun 점 복 (jeom bok))
* hanja form of 복 (“to divine”)

## Tày
### Adjective

卜 (bốc, phoóc)
* Nôm form of bốc (“dry”).
    忒㳍𱺵㳍卜Rẳc bó là bó bốc(please add an English translation of this usage example)
* Nôm form of phoóc (“foolish”).
    坎󰝧宗𫰴卜Khảm khỉn tổng sao phoóc(please add an English translation of this usage example)

### Verb

卜 (fộc)
* Nôm form of fộc.

### References

* Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎ (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

## Vietnamese
### Han character

卜: Hán Việt readings: bốc, bặc
卜: Nôm readings: bói, bóc, vúc, bốc, vốc, vóc, bặc, cốc
* chữ Hán form of bốc (“Kangxi radical 25—‘divination’”).

#### Compounds

* 咹卜 (ăn bốc, “to eat with the fingers”)

### References

* Nôm Foundation
* Lê Sơn Thanh, "Nom-Viet.dat", WinVNKey (details)

## Zhuang
### Noun

卜
* Sawndip form of boh

### Classifier

卜
* Sawndip form of boux