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日记本 (rì jì běn) — diary

Definition

noun
diary
Measure word · 本

Examples

  • 日记本。
    Wǒ měi tiān shuì jiào qián dōu huì xiě rì jì běn.
    I write in my diary every night before sleeping.
  • 日记本。
    Zhè běn rì jì běn shì wǒ zuì hǎo de péng you sòng gěi wǒ de shēng rì lǐ wù.
    This diary is a birthday gift from my best friend.
  • 日记本。
    Tā bǎ zì jǐ suǒ yǒu de mì mì dōu jì zài rì jì běn lǐ.
    He records all his secrets in his diary.

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.

日记diary
日rìday记jìrecord
偏正Modifier + head
本běnbook

'日' (day) and '记' (record) make a daily record, and '本' (book) makes it a diary book.

Characters in this word

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Open 日 →

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 記; 记 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech; words
Sound part声符shēngfú
己
己jǐ記jì
Same sound today

The traditional form 記 pairs 言 (speech; words) with 己 as a sound part; the simplified 记 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical component.

Open 记 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Open 本 →
Appears in
Everyday ObjectsReading & Writing

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