念旧 (niàn jiù) — to cherish old friendships; to be nostalgic for the past

Definition

念旧 means to keep old friendships and past times close to your heart — nostalgic, sentimental about people and memories from before. 怀旧 focuses on missing the past era itself; 念旧 is more about valuing old relationships.

verb
to cherish old friendshipsto be nostalgic for the past

Examples

  • 念旧，。
    Tā hěn niàn jiù, jīng cháng hé xiǎo xué tóng xué lián xì.
    He cherishes old friendships and often contacts his elementary school classmates.
  • ，。
    Tā niàn le yí cì jiù, xiǎng qǐ le hěn duō wǎng shì.
    He was nostalgic once and remembered many past events.
  • 念旧。
    niàn jiù De rén wǎng wǎng hěn zhòng gǎn qíng.
    People who cherish old friendships often value emotions deeply.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

念niànthink of
旧jiùold; former

念 is to think of, and 旧 points to old people or times, giving a sense of keeping old bonds in mind.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

念 combines 今, an upside-down mouth, with 心, the heart, to listen to one's heart.

Open 念 →

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 舊; 旧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雈雈huánowl
Sound part声符shēngfú
臼
臼jiù舊jiù
Same sound today

The traditional form of 旧 is 舊, which shows 雈, an owl, above 臼, which gives the sound.

Open 旧 →

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