野 (yě) · wild; uncultivated

Meanings

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

Characters

野

yě

wild; open field

Examples

HSK 4

这个孩子太野了，管不住。

Zhège háizi tài yě le, guǎnbuzhù.

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

HSK 4

他的野心很大。

Tā de yěxīn hěn dà.

He has great ambition.

HSK 7-9

别吃野蘑菇，可能有毒。

Bié chī yě mógu, kěnéng yǒudú.

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

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.

register

The 'field; open country' sense is literary; everyday Chinese uses 野外 or 田野.

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.