笔记本
bǐ jì běn · HSK 2
notebook
📓✏️ 笔 (pen) + 记 (record) + 本 (book) = pen-record-book = notebook
Literal compound: 笔 means writing brush/pen, 记 means to record or note down, and 本 means book or volume. Stack them together and you get the pen-record-book — a notebook. Also reused for laptop computers.
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.
本 — tree 木 + mark at base
本 is a pictograph of a tree (木) with a stroke at its base, marking the roots. From this 'root' meaning it extended to 'origin,' 'source,' and 'foundation.' In modern usage it also serves as a measure word for bound objects like books.