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自然 (zì rán) — (noun) nature; the natural world; (adjective) natural; unaffected; (adverb) naturally; of course

Definition

自然 covers three senses: nature (大自然), 'natural/unaffected' (her smile, his manner), and 'naturally, of course' as an adverb. As an adverb it's similar to 当然 but feels more like 'it comes naturally'; 本来 stresses 'originally'.

noun
naturethe natural world
adjective
naturalunaffected
adverb
naturallyof course

Examples

  • 。
    Wǒ xǐ huan dà zì rán.
    I like nature.
  • 自然。
    Tā de xiào hěn zì rán.
    Her smile is very natural.
  • 自然。
    Nǐ zì rán huì chéng gōng de.
    You will naturally succeed.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

自zìself
然ránso

自 means self and 然 adds the sense of 'so', giving self-so, nature or natural.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
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'.

Open 然 →
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