随笔 (suí bǐ) — informal essay; personal essay; jottings

Definition

随笔 (suíbǐ) is a short, casual 'informal essay' — personal jottings or reflections on daily life, more casual and shorter than a formal 散文 essay.

noun
informal essaypersonal essayjottings

Examples

  • 随笔，。
    Tā xǐ huan xiě suí bǐ, jì lù shēng huó zhōng de xiǎo shì.
    He likes to write informal essays, recording small things in life.
  • 随笔。
    Zhè běn suí bǐ jí shōu lù le tā shí nián de zuò pǐn.
    This collection of essays includes his works from ten years.
  • 随笔，。
    Dú tā de suí bǐ, jiù xiàng tīng yí wèi lǎo péng you liáo tiān.
    Reading his essays is like chatting with an old friend.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

随suífollow
笔bǐbrush/writing

随 suggests following the 笔 freely, giving an informal essay.

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 隨; 随 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalking
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡐦
𡐦𡐦隨suí
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隨 pairs 辵 (walking) with 𡐦 (the sound part); the simplified 随 is a later shorthand.

Open 随 →

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 筆; 笔 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
聿
聿yù筆bǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The simplified 笔 is based on the traditional form 筆, which puts 竹 (bamboo) beside 聿 (writing brush). 聿 already meant the brush and supplied the sound; 竹 was added later to show it was made of bamboo.

Open 笔 →

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