自為

Chinese

		from; self; oneself from; self; oneself; since	because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become
trad. (自為/自爲)		自	為/爲
simp. (自为)		自	为

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zìwéi

  (Zhuyin): ㄗˋ ㄨㄟˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zìwéi
    • Zhuyin: ㄗˋ ㄨㄟˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zìhwéi
    • Wade–Giles: tzŭ⁴-wei²
    • Yale: dz̀-wéi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzyhwei
    • Palladius: цзывэй (czyvɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩⁵¹ weɪ̯³⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: dzijH hjwe

Rime
Character	自	為
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	從 (15)	云 (35)
Final (韻)	脂 (15)	支 (14)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	疾二切	薳支切
Baxter	dzijH	hjwe
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/d͡ziɪH/	/ɦˠiuᴇ/
Pan Wuyun	/d͡ziH/	/ɦʷᵚiɛ/
Shao Rongfen	/d͡zjɪH/	/ɣiuɛ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/d͡ziH/	/ɦjwiə̆/
Li Rong	/d͡ziH/	/ɣjue/
Wang Li	/d͡ziH/	/ɣǐwe/
Bernard Karlgren	/d͡zʱiH/	/wie̯/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zì	wéi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zi6	wai4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s.[b]i[t]-s  ɢʷ(r)aj/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɦljids  ɢʷal/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	自	自	為
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zì	zì	wéi
Middle Chinese	‹ dzijH ›	‹ dzijH ›	‹ hjwe ›
Old Chinese	/*s.[b]i[t]-s/	/*s.[b]i[t]-s/	/*ɢʷ(r)aj/
English	self (adv.)	to follow; from	make, do, act as
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	自	為
Reading #	1/1	1/2
No.	17879
Phonetic component	自	爲
Rime group	至	歌
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	自	爲
Old Chinese	/*ɦljids/	/*ɢʷal/
Notes		俗爲字

Verb

自為

1. (literary) to do something by oneself
2. (literary) to form naturally
3. (literary) (以……自為) to think of oneself as …

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zìwèi

  (Zhuyin): ㄗˋ ㄨㄟˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zìwèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄗˋ ㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zìhwèi
    • Wade–Giles: tzŭ⁴-wei⁴
    • Yale: dz̀-wèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzyhwey
    • Palladius: цзывэй (czyvɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ weɪ̯⁵¹/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 自慰 自衛／自卫

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• Middle Chinese: dzijH hjweH

Rime
Character	自	為
Reading #	1/1	2/2
Initial (聲)	從 (15)	云 (35)
Final (韻)	脂 (15)	支 (14)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	疾二切	于僞切
Baxter	dzijH	hjweH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/d͡ziɪH/	/ɦˠiuᴇH/
Pan Wuyun	/d͡ziH/	/ɦʷᵚiɛH/
Shao Rongfen	/d͡zjɪH/	/ɣiuɛH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/d͡ziH/	/ɦjwiə̆H/
Li Rong	/d͡ziH/	/ɣjueH/
Wang Li	/d͡ziH/	/ɣǐweH/
Bernard Karlgren	/d͡zʱiH/	/wie̯H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zì	wèi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zi6	wai6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s.[b]i[t]-s  ɢʷ(r)aj-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɦljids  ɢʷals/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	自	自	為
Reading #	1/2	2/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zì	zì	wèi
Middle Chinese	‹ dzijH ›	‹ dzijH ›	‹ hjweH ›
Old Chinese	/*s.[b]i[t]-s/	/*s.[b]i[t]-s/	/*ɢʷ(r)aj-s/
English	self (adv.)	to follow; from	for, because
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	自	為
Reading #	1/1	2/2
No.	17879
Phonetic component	自	爲
Rime group	至	歌
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	自	爲
Old Chinese	/*ɦljids/	/*ɢʷals/

Adjective

自為

1. (literary) for oneself
2. (philosophy, existentialism, phenomenology) for-itself

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “for-itself”): 自在 (zìzài)

Derived terms

• 自為階級／自为阶级 (zìwèi jiējí)