自分

Chinese

		from; self; oneself from; self; oneself; since	to divide; minute; (a measure word) to divide; minute; (a measure word); (a unit of leng)
trad. (自分)		自	分
simp. #(自分)		自	分

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zìfèn

  (Zhuyin): ㄗˋ ㄈㄣˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi⁶ fan¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zìfèn
    • Zhuyin: ㄗˋ ㄈㄣˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zìhfèn
    • Wade–Giles: tzŭ⁴-fên⁴
    • Yale: dz̀-fèn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzyhfenn
    • Palladius: цзыфэнь (czyfɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ fən⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi⁶ fan¹
    • Yale: jih fān
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi⁶ fan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji⁶ fen¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː²² fɐn⁵⁵/

Verb

自分

1. (literary) to evaluate oneself; to assess oneself; to self-estimate

   • 武曰：「自分已死久矣！王必欲降武，請畢今日之歡，效死於前！」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     武曰：「自分已死久矣！王必欲降武，请毕今日之欢，效死于前！」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Han, circa 1^st century CE

     Wǔ yuē: “Zìfèn yǐ sǐ jiǔ yǐ! Wáng bì yù xiáng Wǔ, qǐng bì jīnrì zhī huān, xiàosǐ yú qián!” [Pinyin]

     For a long time I've thought of myself as already dead,”said Su Wu. “King that you are, if you are bent upon forcing me to renounce my allegiance to the Han, then when today's festivities are over, I request permission to end my life in your presence.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
自	分
じ Grade: 2	ぶん Grade: 2
goon

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) じぶん [jìbúń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑibɯ̟̃ɴ]

Noun

自(じ)分(ぶん) • (jibun) 

1. oneself

   過(か)去(こ)とは違(ちが)う自(じ)分(ぶん)

   kako to wa chigau jibun

   a self who is different from the [self of the] past

   太(た)郎(ろう)は自(じ)分(ぶん)を責(せ)めた。

   Tarō wa jibun o semeta.

   Taro blamed himself.

   • 2004 September 8, Nobuhiro Watsuki, “第(だい)34(さんじゅうよん)話(わ)　Ｌｅｔ’ｓ(レッツ) お見(み)舞(ま)い [Chapter 34: Let’s Go for a Hospital Visit]”, in 武(ブ)装(ソウ)錬(レン)金(キン) [Armed Alchemy], volume 4, Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, pages 161–162:

     いいえ　俺(おれ)が勝(か)ちたいのは自(じ)分(ぶん)です

     Īe ore ga kachitai no wa jibun desu

     No, the one I want to beat is myself

2. first-person pronoun: I, me (often shows the speaker's lower position in a hierarchy than the addressee)
3. (Kansai) you

Usage notes

• 自(じ)分(ぶん) (jibun) means “oneself”, with 自(じ)分(ぶん)で (jibun de) meaning “by oneself, by one’s own efforts”. By contrast, 一(ひと)人(り)で and 独(ひと)りで (hitori de) mean rather “alone”. Compare doing an assignment by oneself (without help) versus doing an assignment alone (without any other person around).

Synonyms

• 一(ひと)人(り) (hitori), 独(ひと)り (hitori)

See also

• 自(じ)己(こ) (jiko)

Japanese first-person pronouns

Japanese first-person pronouns by speakers and situations according to Yuko Saegusa, Concerning the First Personal Pronoun of Native Japanese Speakers (2009)

First-person pronouns by elementary school pupils (2008)

Speaker	Situation	1	2	3
Female	To friends	うち (uchi) 49%	First name 26%	あたし (atashi) 15%
	In the family	First name 33%	あたし (atashi) 29%	うち (uchi) 23%
	In a class	わたし (watashi) 86%	あたし (atashi) 7%	うち (uchi) 6%
	To an unknown visitor	わたし (watashi) 75%	あたし (atashi), first name, うち (uchi) 8% each
	To the class teacher	わたし (watashi) 66%	First name 13%	あたし (atashi) 9%
Male	To friends	おれ (ore) 72%	ぼく (boku) 19%	First name 4%
	In the family	おれ (ore) 62%	ぼく (boku) 23%	うち (uchi) 6%
	In a class	ぼく (boku) 85%	おれ (ore) 13%	First name, nickname 1% each
	To an unknown visitor	ぼく (boku) 64%	おれ (ore) 26%	First name 4%
	To the class teacher	ぼく (boku) 67%	おれ (ore) 27%	First name 3%

First-person pronouns by university students (2009)

Speaker	Situation	1	2	3
Female	To friends	うち (uchi) 39%	あたし (atashi) 30%	わたし (watashi) 22%
	In the family	あたし (atashi) 28%	First name 27%	うち (uchi) 18%
	In a class	わたし (watashi) 89%	あたし (atashi) 7%	自分(じぶん) (jibun) 3%
	To an unknown visitor	わたし (watashi) 81%	あたし (atashi) 10%	自分(じぶん) (jibun) 6%
	To the class teacher	わたし (watashi) 77%	あたし (atashi) 17%	自分(じぶん) (jibun) 7%
Male	To friends	おれ (ore) 87%	うち (uchi) 4%	わたし (watashi), 自分(じぶん) (jibun) 2% each
	In the family	おれ (ore) 88%	ぼく (boku), 自分(じぶん) (jibun) 5% each
	In a class	わたし (watashi) 48%	自分(じぶん) (jibun) 28%	ぼく (boku) 22%
	To an unknown visitor	ぼく (boku) 36%	自分(じぶん) (jibun) 29%	わたし (watashi) 22%
	To the class teacher	自分(じぶん) (jibun) 38%	ぼく (boku) 29%	わたし (watashi) 22%

References

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.