字

zì

子 + 宀

HSK 2.0Level 1

HSK 3.0Level 1

Definitions

zì (noun) character; written symbol

zì (noun) word; letter

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 子 represents the sound. The 宀 (roof) component is based on the original meaning "raise up children". The meaning later shifted to "educate", "word", and "writing".

About

The character 字 is a phono-semantic compound: 宀 (roof) supplies the meaning, while 子 (child) supplies the sound. Originally it meant to raise a child under a roof. The meaning later extended to 'educate', and then to 'written character' or 'word', inspired by the way basic characters combine to produce more complex ones. Today 字 chiefly refers to a written character, a word, or a person's courtesy name.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我喜欢这个字。

Wǒ xǐhuān zhège zì.

I like this character.

他教我写汉字。

Tā jiāo wǒ xiě hànzì.

He teaches me to write Chinese characters.

这个字的发音很难。

Zhège zì de fāyīn hěn nán.

The pronunciation of this character is difficult.

请用这个字造句。

Qǐng yòng zhège zì zào jù.

Please use this character to make a sentence.

字典里有很多字。

Zìdiǎn lǐ yǒu hěnduō zì.

There are many characters in the dictionary.

学习汉字需要耐心。

Xuéxí hànzì xūyào nàixīn.

Learning Chinese characters requires patience.

这个字的笔画顺序很重要。

Zhège zì de bǐhuà shùnxù hěn zhòngyào.

The stroke order of this character is very important.

在中文里，每个字都有其独特的含义。

Zài zhōngwén lǐ, měi gè zì dōu yǒu qí dútè de hányì.

In Chinese, each character has its unique meaning.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 子

Component: 宀

字