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佳节 (jiā jié) — joyous festival; festive holiday

Definition

佳节 (jiājié) is a literary word for a 'joyous festival' or special occasion — more formal and celebratory than 节日 ('holiday/festival') or 假日 ('day off'). Typically used for traditional or major holidays (中秋佳节, 国庆佳节), not casual days off.

noun
joyous festivalfestive holiday
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 佳节，。
    Zhōng qiū jiā jié, wǒ men quán jiā rén yì qǐ kàn yuè liang.
    During the Mid-Autumn Festival, our whole family watches the moon together.
  • 佳节，！
    Zhù nǐ jiā jié kuài lè, wàn shì rú yì!
    I wish you a happy festival and that everything goes well!
  • 佳节，。
    Měi nián guó qìng jiā jié, jiē shàng dōu guà mǎn le guó qí.
    Every year during the National Day festival, the streets are filled with national flags.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

佳jiāgood/fine
节jiéfestival

佳节 joins 佳, meaning good or fine, with 节, a festival, to describe a pleasant holiday.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman; person
Sound part声符shēngfú
圭
圭guī佳jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

佳 combines 人 (person) with 圭, which is used for the sound guī.

Open 佳 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 節; 节 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺮Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
即
即jí節jié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 節 pairs ⺮ (bamboo) with 即, which gives the sound; the bamboo part points to a node of bamboo. The simplified 节 is a later abbreviation.

Open 节 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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