独自
dúzì · HSK 4
by oneself
🚶 独自 = 独 (alone) + 自 (self) — alone by oneself
独 means alone/sole (the 犭dog radical + 蜀, once meaning a solitary silkworm). 自 means self, originally a drawing of a nose people point to when saying 'me'. Together: alone-self = solo, unaccompanied.
独 — dog radical 犭 + 蜀 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 犭 (dog) gives the meaning, since dogs were thought to fight when kept together and so were often kept singly, while 蜀 supplies the sound. The original sense was 'solitary dog,' which broadened to 'alone, single, only.'
自 — pictograph of a nose
自 originally depicted a human nose, shown frontally with the bridge and nostrils. Ancient Chinese pointed to their own nose to mean 'me,' so 自 shifted to mean 'self' or 'oneself.' A new character 鼻 was later created to carry the original 'nose' meaning.