笔记
bǐjì · HSK 2
notes
📝 笔 (brush/pen) + 记 (record) = pen-records = notes
笔 depicts a bamboo-handled writing brush; 记 combines 言 (speech) with 己 (self), literally recording words. Together: things written down for yourself — notes or jottings.
笔 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 毛 (hair/fur)
Originally written 筆, depicting a writing brush: 竹 (bamboo) on top for the shaft and 毛 (hair) below for the bristles. Early brushes were bamboo handles tipped with animal hair. The simplified form 笔 keeps the same logic, just replacing the lower component directly with 毛.
记 — speech radical 讠 (言) + self 己
记 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 讠 (the 'speech' radical, simplified from 言) signals meaning related to words or recording, while 己 ('self') supplies the sound. Together it conveys writing down or remembering — noting things in words.