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天性 (tiān xìng) — innate nature; natural disposition

Definition

Tianxing is an innate, inborn disposition (e.g. kindness in humans, flying in birds). Unlike 性格 (personality shaped by experience), it refers to traits one is born with, similar to 本性.

noun
innate naturenatural disposition
Easily confused

Examples

  • 天性。
    Shàn liáng shì rén de tiān xìng.
    Kindness is human nature.
  • 天性。
    Niǎo de tiān xìng shì huì fēi.
    It is in a bird's nature to fly.
  • 天性。
    tiān xìng Shì hěn nán gǎi biàn de.
    Nature is very hard to change.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

天tiānheaven
性xìngnature

天 (heaven) and 性 (nature) together suggest an inborn disposition.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

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