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自传 (zì zhuàn) — autobiography

Definition

noun
autobiography
Measure word · 本

Examples

  • 自传。
    Tā de zì zhuàn jì lù le tā de yì shēng.
    His autobiography records his entire life.
  • 自传。
    Zhè běn zì zhuàn xiě dé fēi cháng zhēn shí gǎn rén.
    This autobiography is written very truthfully and movingly.
  • 自传。
    Tā huā le yì nián shí jiān wán chéng le zì zhuàn.
    She spent a year finishing her autobiography.

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zìself
传chuánbiography

自 gives self, and 传 gives biography, making a life written by oneself.

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.

Open 自 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān傳chuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →
Appears in
Literature & Poetry

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