信笺 (xìn jiān) — letter paper, writing paper (for personal correspondence)

Definition

noun
letter paperwriting paper (for personal correspondence)
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 信笺。
    Wǒ zài wén jù diàn mǎi le yì dié xìn jiān.
    I bought a pad of letter paper at the stationery store.
  • 信笺。
    Tā yòng jīng měi de xìn jiān gěi yuǎn fāng de péng you xiě xìn.
    He used fine letter paper to write to a friend far away.
  • 信笺。
    Zhè xiē xìn jiān shàng yìn yǒu dàn yǎ de huā wén.
    These writing papers have elegant patterns printed on them.

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.

信xìnletter
笺jiānpaper

信 is a letter; 笺 is paper, so the word means paper for letters.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

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 箋; 笺 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
戔
戔jiān箋jiān
Same sound today

The traditional form 箋 combines 竹, bamboo, with 戔 to give the sound; it refers to a small bamboo strip or label. The simplified 笺 is a shorthand.

Open 笺 →

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