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日记 (rì jì) — diary

Definition

日记 is a concrete noun meaning a personal diary (the book or written entries about your own life). Unlike the verb 录 ('to record' audio/video), 日记 is specifically for everyday written entries about one's day.

noun
diary
Measure word · 则, 本, 篇

Examples

  • 日记。
    Wǒ měi tiān xiě yì piān rì jì.
    I write a diary entry every day.
  • 日记。
    Zhè běn rì jì shì wǒ qù nián mǎi de.
    This diary is one I bought last year.
  • 日记。
    Tā xǐ huan zài rì jì lǐ jì xià yǒu qù de shì.
    She likes to write down interesting things in her diary.

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.

日rìday
记jìrecord

日 means day and 记 means record, so it is a record of one's days.

Characters in this word

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Open 日 →

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 記; 记 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech; words
Sound part声符shēngfú
己
己jǐ記jì
Same sound today

The traditional form 記 pairs 言 (speech; words) with 己 as a sound part; the simplified 记 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical component.

Open 记 →
Appears in
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