Definify.com

Definition 2025

佑

佑	U+4F51, 佑 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4F51

← 佐
[U+4F50]

CJK Unified Ideographs

佒 →
[U+4F52]

See also: 祐

Translingual

Han character

佑 (radical 9 人+5, 7 strokes, cangjie input 人大口 (OKR) or X人大口 (XOKR), four-corner 2426₀, composition ⿰亻右)

References

KangXi: page 98, character 11

Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 507

Dae Jaweon: page 208, character 1

Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 131, character 2

Unihan data for U+4F51

Chinese

simp. and trad.		佑

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (又) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
	Old Chinese
絠	*kɯːʔ
醢	*qʰɯːʔ
珛	*qʰʷɯs
栯	ɢʷɯʔ, qʷɯ
有	*ɢʷɯʔ
友	*ɢʷɯʔ
右	ɢʷɯʔ, ɢʷɯs
宥	*ɢʷɯs
囿	ɢʷɯs, ɡʷɯ
侑	*ɢʷɯs
酭	*ɢʷɯs
姷	*ɢʷɯs
又	*ɢʷɯs
佑	*ɢʷɯs
祐	*ɢʷɯs
賄	*qʰʷɯːʔ
蛕	qʰʷɯːʔ, ɡʷɯː
烠	*ɡʷɯː
倄	ɢraːw, ɢʷɯːʔ
鮪	*ɢʷɯʔ
洧	*ɢʷɯʔ
痏	*ɢʷɯʔ
郁	*qʷɯ
戫	*qʷɯ
哊	*ɡʷɯ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ɢʷɯs) : semantic 亻 + phonetic 右 ‎(OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs).

Etymology

From 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs, “right”).

“Right” and “left” are metaphors for “to assist” via the following semantic development: “left or right” > “to be on the left or right of a person” > “to assist, to help, to protect”.

Compare the derivation of 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist; to help”) from 左 (OC *ʔsaːlʔ, *ʔsaːls, “left”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin

(Pinyin): yòu (you⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄧㄡˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jau⁶
Min Nan (POJ): iū
Wu (Wiktionary): hhieu (T3)

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
  - Pinyin: yòu
  - Zhuyin: ㄧㄡˋ
  - Wade-Giles: yu⁴
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yow
  - IPA ^(key): /i̯oʊ̯⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: jau⁶
  - Yale: yauh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jau⁶
  - IPA ^(key): /jɐu̯²²/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, mainstream Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: iū
  - Tâi-lô: iū
  - Phofsit Daibuun: iu
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /iu⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /iu³³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /iu³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /iu²²/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /iu²²/
Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: hhieu (T3)
  - IPA ^(key): /ɦiɜ²³/

Middle Chinese: /ɦɨu^H/▼

Rime
Character	佑
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	云 (35)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	于救切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦɨu^H/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦiu^H/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣiəu^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦuw^H/
Li Rong	/ɣiu^H/
Wang Li	/ɣĭəu^H/
Bernard Karlgren	/i̯ə̯u^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yòu

Old Chinese▼

(Baxter-Sagart): /*[ɢ]ʷəʔ-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*ɢʷɯs/

Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	佑
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yòu
Middle Chinese	‹ hjuw^H ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɢ]ʷəʔ-s/
English	assist
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	佑
Reading #	1/1
No.	15605
Phonetic component	又
Rime group	之
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	宥
Old Chinese	/*ɢʷɯs/

Definitions

佑

to assist; to help; to protect
- 天佑吾民！天佑吾皇！ [MSC, trad. and simp.]
  
  From: The Firmament of the Pleiades
  
  Tiān yòu wú mín! Tiān yòu wú huáng! [Pinyin]
  
  God save my people! God save my emperor!
A surname.

Compounds

不佑 (bùyòu)
保佑 (bǎoyòu)
冥佑
孚佑

庇佑 (bìyòu)
敷佑
眷佑 (juànyòu)

神天福佑
護國佑民／护国佑民
鄰佑／邻佑

Japanese

Kanji

佑

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

Readings

Goon: う (u)

Kan’on: ゆう (yū)

Kun: たすける (tasukeru), すけ (suke)

Proper noun

佑 ‎(hiragana ゆう, romaji Yū)

A male given name

Korean

Hanja

佑 • ‎(u) (hangeul 우, revised u, McCune-Reischauer u)

This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.