浮

The Chinese character 浮 (fú) is composed of two parts: the radical 水 (shuǐ), which means "water," and the phonetic component 孚 (fú), which means "to float." The character 浮 originally meant "to float on water," but it has since taken on a wider range of meanings, including "to rise," "to emerge," "to appear," and "to be superficial."The radical 水 is one of the most common radicals in Chinese, and it is used in many characters related to water, such as 河 (hé, "river"), 海 (hǎi, "sea"), and 湖 (hú, "lake"). The phonetic component 孚 is less common, but it is also used in a few other characters, such as 孚 (fú, "to trust") and 负 (fù, "to carry").The character 浮 is first attested in the oracle bone script, which is the earliest known form of Chinese writing. In the oracle bone script, the character 浮 is depicted as a person standing on a boat, with the water below them. This image suggests that the original meaning of the character was "to float on water."Over time, the character 浮 has taken on a wider range of meanings. In addition to its original meaning, it can also mean "to rise," "to emerge," "to appear," and "to be superficial." The character 浮 can be used in a variety of contexts, and it is an important part of the Chinese language.