ぶ

See also: ふ and ぷ

ぶ	U+3076, ぶ HIRAGANA LETTER BU

Composition:

ふ [U+3075] + ◌゙ [U+3099]

← ふ
[U+3075]

Hiragana

ぷ →
[U+3077]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [bɯ̟]

Etymology 1

The hiragana character ふ (fu) with a dakuten (゛).

Syllable

ぶ • (bu)

The hiragana syllable ぶ (bu). Its equivalent in katakana is ブ (bu).

Etymology 2

See びる.

Suffix

ぶ • (bu) ^†nidan

Classical Japanese form of びる (-biru, “to act like”)

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "ぶ" (バ行上二段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	び	bi
Continuative (連用形)	び	bi
Terminal (終止形)	ぶ	bu
Attributive (連体形)	ぶる	buru
Realis (已然形)	ぶれ	bure
Imperative (命令形)	びよ	biyo
Key constructions
Negative	びず	bizu
Contrasting conjunction	ぶれど	buredo
Causal conjunction	ぶれば	bureba
Conditional conjunction	びば	biba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	びき	biki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	びけり	bikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	びつ	bitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	びぬ	binu
Perfect-continuative tense	びたり	bitari
Volitional	びむ	bimu

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of ぶ – see the following entries.

【分】2	[noun] (historical, obsolete) unit of currency equal to four 両 (ryō) and to ten 釐 (rin)

【歩】2

[noun] a traditional unit of measurement:

[noun] for land area, equal to 6 square 尺 (shaku) or 3.306 square metres

[noun] for length, also equal to 6 尺 (shaku) or approximately 1.8 metres

[noun] (finance) by extension of 分 (bu, literally “one-tenth”):

[noun] a percentage on interest; compare English commission

[noun] the lending and borrowing of interest itself

[affix] percentage, proportion, ratio

[suffix] in measuring 町 (chō, “block”), 段 (tan, “300 bu/tsubo”), etc., indicates no decimal points added; compare English even, precisely

【部】3	[counter] copies of a newspaper or magazine [noun] division, divide, a part [noun] section, bureau, department [suffix] division, bureau [suffix] school club [suffix] category

【不ふ】4

[prefix] un-, non-, in-, not

[prefix] bad, poor

【無】4	[prefix] non-, un-

【武】5

[noun] courage, ferocity, valor

[noun] military power, force of arms

[noun] the act of carrying out military force: a battle, a war

[noun] the way of carrying out military force: strategy, tactics, martial arts

[noun] a military person: an officer, a soldier

[noun] (obsolete) a unit of length, equivalent to half of a 歩 (bu, six 尺 (shaku), roughly six feet or 1.8 meters), roughly equivalent to one yard or 90 centimeters

(This term, ぶ (bu), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as ぶ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as ぶ.