Chinese Character Wiki
自

zì

self

Original meaning: 

nose

Pictograph of a nose. Original form of 鼻 (nose). In China, when people point to themselves, they typically point to their nose.

Evolution

自 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
自 Bronze script Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
自 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
自 Clerical script Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical script

Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
自 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

自  

zì

self, private, personal; from; self; oneself; since; naturally; surely

Most common words with 自
Freq.
Word
Meaning

自己

oneself

自

self

来自

to come from (a place)

自然

nature

自由

freedom

Component uses

Meaning component in 4 characters (2 verified)

辠 咱 臭 戛

Sound component in 6 characters (2 verified)

邊 臬 瘪 癟 憩 洎

Iconic component in 2 characters (2 verified)

息 鼻

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*s.[b]i[t]-s

dzijH

zì

self (adv.)

*s.[b]i[t]-s

dzijH

zì

to follow; from


Statistics

HSK level 4

Appears in 99.8398% of movies

83rd most common character in movies

43rd most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

6

Unicode

U+81EA

Shuowen

“自，鼻也。象鼻形。，古文自。”


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