纪念品 (jì niàn pǐn) — souvenir; keepsake; memento

Definition

noun
souvenirkeepsakememento
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 纪念品
    Wǒ zài lǚ yóu jǐng diǎn mǎi le yí gè jì niàn pǐn.
    I bought a souvenir at the tourist attraction.
  • 纪念品
    Zhè fèn jì niàn pǐn shì wǒ cóng rì běn dài huí lái de.
    This souvenir is one I brought back from Japan.
  • 纪念品
    Tā bǎ zhè xiē jì niàn pǐn dōu shōu zài hé zi lǐ.
    He keeps all these souvenirs in a box.

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.

纪念commemorate
recordniànremember
联合Coordinate

纪 (record) and 念 (remember) give a commemorative sense, and 品 (item) makes it a keepsake.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 紀; 纪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
silk
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

The traditional form 紀 pairs 糸, silk, with 己 as the sound part; the simplified 纪 is a shorthand.

Open 纪 →

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 →

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

品 repeats the same simple shape three times, representing various objects.

Open 品 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.