自然光 (zì rán guāng) — natural light

Definition

noun

natural light

自然光，。
Zhè jiān fáng jiān de zì rán guāng hěn hǎo, hěn shì hé huà huà.
This room has great natural light, perfect for painting.
自然光。
Shè yǐng shī xǐ huan zài zì rán guāng xià pāi shè rén xiàng.
Photographers like to shoot portraits in natural light.
自然光。
Zhí wù xū yào chōng zú de zì rán guāng cái néng jiàn kāng shēng zhǎng.
Plants need plenty of natural light to grow healthily.

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.

自然natural

偏正Modifier + head

自然 (natural) and 光 (light) combine to mean light occurring in nature.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

肰

肰rán然rán

Same sound today

然 is made from 肰, which gives the sound, and 火, which shows fire, matching the old sense 'to burn'.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.