ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY
者
one who; -er (person suffix)
zhě
8 strokes · 耂 (old) over 白 (white) in modern form — originally sugarcane boiling · HSK 3
What 者 is made of
耂 + 日 = 者
耂old (top form)
Where 者 comes from
Ancient pictures show something cooking over fire; the sound was borrowed for grammar. In classical Chinese, 者 turns any verb into 'the one who does it' — the original -er suffix.
者 in Chinese culture
记者 journalist (one who records), 作者 author (one who makes), 读者 reader, 学者 scholar. Laozi wrote 知人者智，自知者明: 'one who knows others is clever; one who knows himself is enlightened.'
Example
记者 jìzhě — journalist
他是一名记者。
Tā shì yì míng jìzhě.
He is a journalist.
How to remember it
Add 者 to a verb and you get the DOER — the original '-ER'.
Buddhist translators used 行者 'walker' for wandering monks — Sun Wukong's nickname 孙行者 in Journey to the West.
Same sound, different tones
Words unlocked by 者
记者 jìzhě
journalist
作者 zuòzhě
author
Related characters
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