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纪念 (jì niàn) — to commemorate, to honor the memory of; memento, keepsake, souvenir

Definition

纪念 is both a verb ('to commemorate') and a noun ('souvenir/keepsake'). Unlike 怀念, it focuses on public acts or objects marking an event, not private missing of someone.

to commemorateto honor the memory ofmementokeepsakesouvenir

Examples

  • 纪念。
    Zhè cì huó dòng shì wèi le jì niàn nà xiē yīng xióng.
    This event is to commemorate those heroes.
  • 纪念。
    Wǒ liú xià zhè zhāng zhào piàn zuò wéi jì niàn.
    I keep this photo as a souvenir.
  • 纪念。
    Zhè ge lǐ wù hěn yǒu jì niàn yì yì.
    This gift has great commemorative value.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

纪jìrecord
念niànremember

The record 纪 and remembrance 念 together mean commemoration.

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
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
己
己jǐ紀jì
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 →
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