记念 (jì niàn) — to keep thinking of; to miss (with nostalgic or affectionate feeling)

Definition

记念 (jìniàn) means to remember someone or something with warm, nostalgic feeling — literary and more emotional than 想起, often used for writing or commemorating.

verb
to keep thinking ofto miss (with nostalgic or affectionate feeling)
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，记念。
    Tā lí kāi duō nián, wǒ réng rán shí shí jì niàn tā.
    He left many years ago, and I still think of him often.
  • 记念。
    Lǎo rén cháng cháng jì niàn nián qīng shí de péng you.
    The old man often misses the friends of his youth.
  • 记念。
    Tā xiě le yì shǒu shī lái jì niàn gù xiāng.
    She wrote a poem to remember her hometown.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

记jìremember
念niànthink of

记 remembers and 念 thinks of, giving the sense of missing someone.

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 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 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

念 combines 今, an upside-down mouth, with 心, the heart, to listen to one's heart.

Open 念 →

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