自救 (zì jiù) — to save oneself; to fend for oneself

Definition

verb

to save oneselfto fend for oneself

，自救。
Zài dì zhèn zhōng, tā xué huì le zì jiù.
During the earthquake, he learned to save himself.
，，自救。
Yù dào kùn nan shí, bú yào zhī děng bié rén bāng zhù, yào xué huì zì jiù.
When facing difficulties, don't just wait for others' help; learn to fend for yourself.
，自救。
Zhè ge xiàng mù shī bài le, gōng sī zhǐ néng zì jiù.
This project failed; the company can only save itself.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

自zìoneself

救jiùsave/rescue

自 points to oneself and 救 means rescue, so the word expresses rescuing 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.

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

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 救, 求 gives the sound, and 攴 is the action part.

Appears in