保

TranslingualEdit

Stroke order

Han characterEdit

保 (radical 9, 人+7, 9 strokes, cangjie input 人口木 (ORD), four-corner 2629₄, composition ⿰亻呆)

Derived charactersEdit

堢媬𠸒㨐湺椺𤦸褓緥𨩚䭋堡煲㷛賲葆褒藵䳰

DescendantsEdit

Japanese: ほ, ホ

ReferencesEdit

KangXi: page 105, character 17
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 702
Dae Jaweon: page 222, character 6
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 160, character 4
Unihan data for U+4FDD

ChineseEdit

simp. and trad.		保

Wikipedia has an article on:

保

Glyph originEdit

Historical forms of the character 保

Shang

Western Zhou

Warring States

Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)

Oracle bone script

Bronze inscriptions

Chu Slip and silk script

Small seal script

**Oracle bone script**
j18772	j18773	j18774	j18775	j18776	j18777	j18778	j18779
j18780	j18781	j18782	j18783	j18784	j18785	j18786	j18787
j18788	j18789	j18790	j18791	j18792	j18793	j18794	j18795

**Bronze inscriptions**
b12171	b12172	b12173	b12174	b12175	b12176	b12177	b12178
b12179	b12180	b12181	b12182	b12183	b12184	b12185	b12186
b12187	b12188	b12189	b12191	b12192	b12193	b12194	b12195
b12196	b12197	b12198	b12199	b12200	b12201	b12202	b12203
b12204	b12205	b12206	b12207	b12208	b12209	b12210	b12211
b12212	b12213	b12214	b12215	b12216	b12217	b12218	b12219
b12220	b12221	b12222	b12223	b12224	b12225	b12226	b12227
b12228	b12229	b12230	b12231	b12232	b12233	b12234	b12235
b12236	b12237	b12238	b12239	b12240	b12241

**Small seal script**
s05653	s05654	s05655

**Transcribed ancient scripts**
L34905	L34906	L34907	L34908	L34909	L16820	L16821	L16822
L16823	L16824	L16825	L16826	L16827	L16828	L16829	L16830
L16831	L16832	L16833

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 (保) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
襃	puː, puː
保	*puːʔ
堡	*puːʔ
褓	*puːʔ
堢	*puːʔ
緥	*puːʔ
葆	*puːʔ
賲	*puːʔ
宲	*puːʔ
椺	ɦmluːʔ, ɢʷeːɡs, *ɢeːɡ

In the oracle script, this character was an ideogrammic compound (會意): 人 (“person”) + 子 (“child”) – a person carrying a child on the back; to carry (a child) > to protect.

In early bronze inscriptions, 爪 (“hand”) was added to the person to emphasize that the person was carrying the child. This was later simplified into one or two strokes. The current form has two.

PronunciationEdit

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bǎo (bao³)

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄠˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bou²
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): pó

(Meixian, Guangdong): bau³
Min Bei (KCR): bǎu
Min Dong (BUC): bō̤
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): pó / pó͘

(Teochew, Peng'im): bao² / bo²
Wu (Wiktionary): pau (T2)

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: bǎo
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄠˇ
  - Wade–Giles: pao³
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bao
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bǎo
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɑʊ̯²¹⁴/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: bou²
  - Yale: bóu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bou²
  - Guangdong Romanization: bou²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pou̯³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: pó
  - Hakka Romanization System: bo`
  - Hagfa Pinyim: bo³
  - Sinological IPA: /po³¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: bau³
  - Sinological IPA: /pau³¹/
Min Bei
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: bǎu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pau²¹/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: bō̤
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /po³³/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pó
  - Tâi-lô: pó
  - Phofsit Daibuun: poir
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /po⁵⁵⁴/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /po⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /pɤ⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pó͘
  - Tâi-lô: póo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: por
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /pɔ⁵⁵⁴/

Note:

pó͘ - literary (Quanzhou);
pó - vernacular (Quanzhou).

(Teochew)
- Peng'im: bao² / bo²
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: páu / pó
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /pau⁵²/, /po⁵²/

Note:

bao2 - literary;
bo2 - vernacular.

Wu

(Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: pau (T2)
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɔ³⁴/

Middle Chinese: /pɑu^X/

Rime
Character	保
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	豪 (89)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	博抱切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pɑu^X/
Pan Wuyun	/pɑu^X/
Shao Rongfen	/pɑu^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/paw^X/
Li Rong	/pɑu^X/
Wang Li	/pɑu^X/
Bernard Karlgren	/pɑu^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bǎo

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*pˤuʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*puːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	保
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bǎo
Middle Chinese	‹ paw^X ›
Old Chinese	/*pˁuʔ/
English	protect
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	保
Reading #	1/1
No.	318
Phonetic component	保
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	寶
Old Chinese	/*puːʔ/

DefinitionsEdit

保

to raise; to rear
to keep; to maintain
to protect; to safeguard; to defend
- 你要保大還是保小？ [MSC, trad.]
  你要保大还是保小？ [MSC, simp.]
  Nǐ yào bǎo dà háishì bǎo xiǎo? [Pinyin]
  Do you want to save the mother (“the big one”) or the baby (“the small one”)? (a common line in obstetrics-themed dramas)
to ensure; to guarantee
guarantor
Short for 保釋／保释 (bǎoshì, “to bail”).
(historical) bao (a unit of the ancient administrative system, consisting of some 100 households)
A surname: Bao