The character 自 (zì): self
- Pronunciation
- zì
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 自
- Made of
- 目丶
What it means
(bound form) self; oneself; from; since; naturally; as a matter of course
Where its shape comes from
It is a NOSE. Xu Shen is categorical, "the nose; a picture of the shape of the nose", and the early forms give it seen face on, with its ridge and its nostrils. The sense "self" came out of usage: in Chinese you point at your own nose to mean yourself. The nose then had to be written afresh, with a sound element added to it, and that is the 鼻 (bí) of today.
Source: Xu Shen, Shuowen Jiezi (121 CE); the Chinese University of Hong Kong character database.
A way to remember it
Take 目, the eye you learned a little earlier, and lay a short slanting stroke on its top left corner. That slant is written FIRST, before the frame goes down, and it is the only stroke that separates the two characters.
This is a memory aid, not the origin of the character.
Words it appears in
- 自己 zì jǐ · HSK 3 oneself; one's own
- 自行车 zì xíng chē · HSK 3 bicycle; bike; CL:輛|辆[liang4]
- 来自 lái zì · HSK 4 to come from (a place); From: (in email header)
- 自然 zì rán · HSK 4 nature; natural; naturally
- 自信 zì xìn · HSK 4 to have confidence in oneself; self-confidence
- 自动 zì dòng · HSK 5 automatic; voluntarily
Writing it
See the stroke order of 自, animated stroke by stroke.