自燃 (zì rán) — spontaneous combustion; spontaneous ignition | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

spontaneous combustionspontaneous ignition

Examples

自燃。
zì rán Shì yì zhǒng huà xué xiàn xiàng.
Spontaneous combustion is a chemical phenomenon.
自燃。
Zhè zhǒng cái liào róng yì fā shēng zì rán.
This material is prone to spontaneous combustion.
自燃。
Sēn lín zì rán kě néng yóu gāo wēn yǐn qǐ.
Forest spontaneous combustion can be caused by high temperatures.

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.

自zìby itself

自 indicates by itself, and 燃 means burning.

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.

火然燃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

火火huǒfire

Sound part声符shēngfú

然

然rán燃rán

Same sound today

燃 adds 火 (fire) to 然 to write “burn”; 然 supplied the sound, and 火 was added to make the fire meaning clear.

Appears in

Physics & Chemistry

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