遗忘症 (yí wàng zhèng) — amnesia

Definition

noun
amnesia

Examples

  • 遗忘症，。
    Chē huò hòu tā dé le yí wàng zhèng, jì bù qǐ guò qù de shì.
    After the car accident he developed amnesia and couldn't remember past events.
  • 遗忘症，。
    Zhè zhǒng yí wàng zhèng huì yǐng xiǎng duǎn qī jì yì, dàn cháng qī jì yì bú shòu yǐng xiǎng.
    This kind of amnesia affects short-term memory, but long-term memory is not affected.
  • 遗忘症。
    Yī shēng zhèng zài yán jiū zhì liáo yí wàng zhèng de xīn fāng fǎ.
    Doctors are researching new treatments for amnesia.

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.

遗忘forget
遗yílose忘wàngforget
联合Side by side
症zhèngillness

遗忘 means to forget, and 症 denotes an illness; together: a condition of forgetting.

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 遺; 遗 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuòmove
Sound part声符shēngfú
貴
貴guì遺yí
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 遺 pairs 辶 (move) with 貴 as a sound part; the simplified 遗 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 遗 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
亡
亡wáng忘wàng
Same sound today

忘 combines 亡, which gives the sound, with 心 (“heart”), showing the sense is about the heart or mind.

Open 忘 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
疒疒nèdisease
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng症zhèng
Same sound today

The left part 疒 shows it is about disease. The right part 正 is used for the sound.

Open 症 →

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