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感恩节 (Gǎn ēn jié) — Thanksgiving Day

Definition

noun
Thanksgiving Day

Examples

  • 感恩节。
    Wǒ men měi nián dōu qìng zhù Gǎn ēn jié.
    We celebrate Thanksgiving every year.
  • 感恩节。
    Gǎn ēn jié Zài shí yī yuè dì sì gè xīng qī sì.
    Thanksgiving is on the fourth Thursday of November.
  • 感恩节。
    Gǎn ēn jié Wǎn shàng wǒ men quán jiā yì qǐ chī huǒ jī.
    On Thanksgiving evening, our whole family eats turkey together.

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.

感恩gratitude
感gǎnfeel恩ēngrace
动宾Verb + object
节jiéfestival

感恩 says gratitude, and 节 names a festival.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
咸
咸xián感gǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

感 pairs 咸, which gives the sound, with 心, the heart, for feeling.

Open 感 →

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
因
因yīn恩ēn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

恩 puts 因, which gives the sound, beside 心, a heart.

Open 恩 →

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 節; 节 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺮Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
即
即jí節jié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 節 pairs ⺮ (bamboo) with 即, which gives the sound; the bamboo part points to a node of bamboo. The simplified 节 is a later abbreviation.

Open 节 →
Appears in
Festivals & Holidays5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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