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速记 (sù jì) — (noun) shorthand; stenography; (verb) to take shorthand

Definition

noun
shorthandstenography
verb
to take shorthand

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā shì yì míng yōu xiù de sù jì yuán, měi fēn zhōng néng jì yì bǎi duō gè cí.
    She is an excellent stenographer and can take over a hundred words per minute.
  • 速记。
    Huì yì jì lù xū yào yòng sù jì kuài sù xiě xià lái.
    Meeting minutes need to be written down quickly in shorthand.
  • 速记。
    Tā huā le yì nián shí jiān zì xué sù jì.
    He spent a year teaching himself shorthand.

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.

速sùfast
记jìrecord

速 (fast) and 记 (record) combine to mean quick note-taking.

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
辵辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
束
束shù速sù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

速 pairs 辵, the walking part, with 束, which is used for its sound; the walking part fits the meaning of moving fast.

Open 速 →

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 →
Appears in
Reading & Writing

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