DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

自不必說

简自不必说 · 繁自不必說

Mandarin · pinyin zì bù bì shuō

(idiom) needless to say
it goes without saying

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Characters in this entry

自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
必: bì · surely, most certainly; must
說: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
说: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–1 · zi4 bu4 bi4 shuo1

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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