不 自 由，毋 宁 死

bùzìyóu,wúnìngsǐ

give me liberty or give me death

Traditional 不自由，毋寧死

Meaning

bùzìyóu,wúnìngsǐbu4 zi4 you2 , wu2 ning4 si3

4 strokes

6 strokes

5 strokes

4 strokes

5 strokes

6 strokes

bù · no, not, un-; negative prefix

Radical 一 · 4 strokes

Ideographic: A bird flying toward the sky 一

zì · self; private, personal; from

Radical 自 · 6 strokes

Pictographic: A nose; in China, people refer to themselves by pointing to their noses

yóu · cause, reason; from

Radical 田 · 5 strokes

Ideographic: Road 丨 leading to the farm 田

wú · not; do not; surname

Radical 毋 · 4 strokes

nìng · calm, peaceful; healthy; rather; to prefer

Radical 宀 · 5 strokes · Parts 宀丁

Pictophonetic: roof

sǐ · dead; death; impassable, inflexible

Radical 歹 · 6 strokes · Parts 歹匕

Ideographic: A person kneeling 匕 before a corpse 歹

Glyphs: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.