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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

非

fēi
not be; is not; not
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 4
  • TOCFL 5
  • radical 非
  • 8 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • derived
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Origin

Pictogram (象形) - two wings facing opposite directions. Originally, it represented wings; then, according to Xu Shen, its meaning changed into "leave; disobey" (違). Eventually, it was used perhaps as a phonetic loan to mean "not to be".

Unrelated to the Kangxi radical 韭.

非 (OC *pɯj) is the fusion of the negation particle 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ', “not”) and the copula 惟 (OC *ɢʷi, “to be”), attested in oracle bone inscriptions.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese三 “three”
  • partChinese丿 “left-falling stroke, usually read as 撇”
  • partChinese丨 “To connect vertically; to pass through from top to bottom.”

Words built on it: 非常, 靠, 排, 除非, 罪

Meanings

character
  1. not be; is not; not
  2. to run counter to; to not conform to
  3. NOT
  4. wrong; incorrect
  5. to reproach; to blame
  6. Used to insist on something. to have got to; to simply must

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

非：違也。从飛下翄，取其相背。凡非之屬皆从非。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 不對的、錯誤的。與「是」相對。 例：所用非人、非分之想
  2. 不是。表示否定。與「是」相對。 例：非賣品、答非所問
  3. 錯事、惡行。 例：為非作歹、痛改前非
  4. 不合於。 例：非禮、非分、非法
  5. 批評、不認同。 例：以古非今、遭人非議、無可厚非
  6. 與「不」、「莫」連用，表必須、一定。 例：非去不可、非君莫屬

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 非 was written 字形演變

  1. 非 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 非 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 非 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 非 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 非 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 非 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 非