同学录 (tóng xué lù) — school yearbook

Definition

noun

school yearbook

Measure word · 本

同学录。
Wǒ men bì yè shí měi rén mǎi le yì běn tóng xué lù.
Everyone bought a school yearbook when we graduated.
同学录。
Wǒ zài tóng xué lù shàng zhǎo dào le tā de lián xì fāng shì.
I found his contact information in the yearbook.
同学录。
Zhè běn tóng xué lù jì lù le wǒ men de qīng chūn.
This yearbook records our youth.

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.

同学classmates

偏正Modifier + head

“同学” means people from the same school, and “录” is a record.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

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 錄; 录 is its simplified writing.

金彔錄

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīnmetal

Sound part声符shēngfú

彔

彔lù錄lù

Same sound today

The traditional form 錄 combines 金 (metal) with 彔, which gives the sound; the simplified 录 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.