私 (sī) — (bound form) private, personal; (bound form) selfish; (bound form) illegal, contraband
Definition
Bound morpheme, not used alone. As a prefix, 私 means 'private/personal' (私事) or 'selfish' (自私); in legal contexts it marks the illegal or unofficial (私藏).
bound form
privatepersonalselfishillegalcontraband
Examples
- ，。Zhè shì wǒ de sī shì, bù fāng biàn shuō.This is my personal matter, not convenient to talk about.
- ，。Nà ge rén tài zì sī liǎo, cóng bù kǎo lǜ bié rén.That person is too selfish, never considers others.
- 。Tā sī zì zhàn yòng le gōng jia de chē wèi.He privately occupied a public parking space without permission.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
Sound part声符shēngfú
厶
厶sī私sī
Same sound today
私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.
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