Character etymology for Elementary - Keys, Wallet, Phone 忘

mandarinboy
September 14, 2008, 05:18 AM posted in General Discussion

This weeks last character from "keys,Wallet,Phone" is 忘

Character:

Traditional form:   

Pinyin: wàng

Meaning:  to forget; to overlook; to neglect

Frequency: 1111

 

Strokes: 6

Decomposition:

亡 wáng(lose,perish) + 心 xīn (heart)

 

Radical part:

Alternative forms of radical: 心忄

 

Radical meaning: xīn,heart

Stroke animation: (the strokes are drawn the direction the picture is tipping)

 

 

 

 

 

Etymology: 

 

 

 

 

xīn (heart) suggests the meaning while wáng (lose,perish) provides the sound.  The old form of the phonetic represents a man ( tóu, head) entering an concealment ( yǐn, hidden, secret; to conceal)and the meaning where to disappear or to perish. The xīn ceases to act wáng = to forget.

Link to nciku usage of the character (examples, sound etc)

http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E5%BF%98/1315773

 

 

Example words:

wàng to forget / to overlook / to neglect 

难忘 nán wàng unforgettable 

忘我 wàng wǒ selflessness 

永志不忘 yǒng zhì bù wàng never to be forgotten 

念念不忘 niàn niàn bù wàng to keep in mind constantly (成语 saw) 

遗忘 yí wàng to become forgotten / to forget 

健忘症 jiàn wàng zhèng amnesia 

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