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Definition 2025

自

自

See also: 白, 目, and 且

Translingual

Stroke order
Stroke order

Han character

自 (radical 132 自+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 竹月山 (HBU), four-corner 26000)

  1. Kangxi radical #132, ⾃ ‎(“self”).

Derived characters

  • Index:Chinese radical/自
  • 息

Related characters

References

  • KangXi: page 1000, character 7
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 30095
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1452, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 5, page 3046, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+81EA

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 自

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 自
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Large seal script Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series (自) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
郋 *ɡiːl
自 *ɦljids
洎 *krids, *ɡrids
臮 *ɡrids
垍 *ɡrids
詯 *qʰʷlɯːls, *ɡʷlɯːls

Originally a pictogram (象形) of a nose; in China (and East Asia) one points at one’s nose to indicate oneself, hence an ideogram (指事) of “self”.

The original meaning of “nose” has been lost; compare 白 (originally “acorn”, now “white”). The derivative 鼻 refers to the original word.

Pronunciation

  • Dialectal data▼
Variety Location 自
Mandarin Beijing /t͡sz̩⁵¹/
Harbin /t͡sz̩⁵³/
Tianjin /t͡sz̩⁵³/
Jinan /t͡sz̩⁴²/ ～己
/t͡sz̩²¹/ ～來水
Qingdao /t͡sz̩⁴²/
Zhengzhou /t͡sz̩³¹²/
Xi'an /t͡sz̩⁴⁴/
Xining /t͡sz̩²¹³/
Yinchuan /t͡sz̩¹³/
Lanzhou /t͡sz̩¹³/
Ürümqi /t͡sz̩²¹³/
Wuhan /t͡sz̩³⁵/
Chengdu /t͡sz̩¹³/
Guiyang /t͡sz̩²¹³/
Kunming /t͡sz̩²¹²/
Nanjing /t͡sz̩⁴⁴/
Hefei /t͡sz̩⁵³/
Jin Taiyuan /t͡sz̩⁴⁵/
Pingyao /t͡sz̩³⁵/
Hohhot /t͡sz̩⁵⁵/
Wu Shanghai /zz̩²³/
Suzhou /zz̩³¹/
Hangzhou /zz̩¹³/
Wenzhou /zz̩²²/
Hui Shexian /t͡sʰz̩²²/
Tunxi /t͡sʰz̩¹¹/
/sz̩⁵/
Xiang Changsha /t͡sz̩⁵⁵/
/t͡sz̩¹¹/
Xiangtan /d͡zz̩²¹/
Gan Nanchang /t͡sʰz̩²¹/
Hakka Meixian /t͡sʰz̩⁵³/
Taoyuan /t͡sʰï⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /t͡si²²/
Nanning /t͡sz̩²²/
Hong Kong /t͡si²²/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /t͡su²²/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /t͡sɛi²⁴²/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /t͡su⁴²/
Shantou (Min Nan) /t͡sɯ³¹/
Haikou (Min Nan) /t͡si³³/ ～己
/t͡si³⁵/ ～從
Rime
Character 自
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 從 (15)
Final (韻) 脂 (15)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 疾二切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /d͡ziɪH/
Pan
Wuyun		 /d͡ziH/
Shao
Rongfen		 /d͡zjɪH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /d͡ziH/
Li
Rong		 /d͡ziH/
Wang
Li		 /d͡ziH/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /d͡zʱiH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 zì
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 自 自
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 zì zì
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ dzijH › ‹ dzijH ›
Old
Chinese		 /*s.[b]i[t]-s/ /*s.[b]i[t]-s/
English self (adv.) to follow; from

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 自
Reading # 1/1
No. 17879
Phonetic
component		 自
Rime
group		 至
Rime
subdivision		 1
Corresponding
MC rime		 自
Old
Chinese		 /*ɦljids/

Definitions

自

  1. self, oneself; one's own
    自顧自 / 自顾自  ―  zìgùzì  ―  each minding his own business; each for himself
  2. certainly, of course
  3. personally
  4. since; from
    自左而右  ―  zì zuǒ ér yòu  ―  from left to right

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

自

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. self, oneself

Readings

Compounds

Korean

Hanja

自 • ‎(ja)
Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul): 자 (McCune-Reischauer: cha, Yale: ca)
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Compounds

Vietnamese

Han character

自 (tự, từ, tợ)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

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