否
fǒupǐ HSK3

not

Originally the same character as 不. Distinguishing component 口 was added later to the character when it took on the meaning "not". 不 represents the sound.

Components

不
不 SoundMeaning component
bù, bu no
Change in sound
口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

Added later when the character started to mean "not" and to distinguish from 不.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

痞咅

Meaning (1)

咅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjuwXpəʔ not

說文解字

《說文》：“否，不也。从口，从不，不亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.94-95
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)