野 (yě): wild; uncultivated

Meanings

1 wild; uncultivated
2 unruly; rough; uncivilized
3 field; open country (literary)

Characters

野

yě

wild; open field

Examples

这座山上有很多野花。

Zhè zuò shānshàng yǒu hěnduō yěhuā.

There are many wildflowers on this mountain.

这个孩子太野了，管不住。

Zhège háizi tài yě le, guǎn buzhù.

This kid is too unruly, you can't control him.

别吃野蘑菇，可能有毒。

Bié chī yě mógu, kěnéng yǒudú.

Don't eat wild mushrooms, they might be poisonous.

他的野心很大。

Tā de yěxīn hěn dà.

He has great ambition.

Tips

usage

野 can describe nature (野花, 野果) or personality (太野了 = too wild/unruly). 野心 (yěxīn, 'wild heart') means ambition, often with a negative connotation.

usage

野 combines 里 (village) and 予 — think of what lies beyond the village boundaries: the wild, untamed countryside.

Components

radical

里 lǐ

village; inside

Left side is 里 'village, hometown' (originally a field 田 over earth 土) — the indexing radical here, anchoring the spatial sense. The whole logic of 野 is a contrast: 里 is what's inside the village, 野 is what lies beyond the boundary. Hence 野 names the wild, the open country, the uncultivated outside.

phonetic

予 yǔ

to give; I (here phonetic)

Right is 予, supplying the sound — yǔ drifting to yě. Same phonetic in 序 order, 抒 to express, 舒 to stretch, 杼 weaving shuttle. Visually 予 is a stylised hand passing something across; here it's mostly sound, with a faint flavor of openness — what is given out, beyond the village walls. So 野 = beyond-the-village space.