回忆录 (huí yì lù) — memoir | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A 回忆录 is a first-person memoir — the author writes about their own life. Contrast with 传记, a third-person biography about someone else.

noun

memoir

Measure word · 本

Examples

回忆录。
Zhè běn huí yì lù jì lù le tā nián qīng shí de shì.
This memoir records the stories of his youth.
回忆录。
Tā yòng le shí nián shí jiān wán chéng le yí bù huí yì lù.
She took ten years to finish a memoir.
回忆录。
Hěn duō dú zhě dōu xǐ huan kàn míng rén de huí yì lù.
Many readers like to read memoirs of famous people.

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.

回忆recall

回huíback忆yìremember

偏正Modifier + head

录lùrecord

回忆 means remember back, and 录 means record, together naming a record of remembered events.

Characters in this word

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

回 comes from a drawing of a spiral, showing something turning around.

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

忄乙忆

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

乙

乙yǐ忆yì

Same sound today

忆 pairs 忄 (heart) with 乙 as a sound part, forming a character for remembering.

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 錄; 录 is its simplified writing.

金彔錄

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīnmetal

Sound part声符shēngfú

彔

彔lù錄lù

Same sound today

The traditional form 錄 combines 金 (metal) with 彔, which gives the sound; the simplified 录 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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