记忆犹新
jì yì yoú xīn · HSK 7
to remain fresh in one's memory (idiom)
🧠✨ 记忆 (memory) + 犹 (still) + 新 (new) = the memory is still new
Break it into 记忆 jìyì memory, 犹 yóu still or as-if, 新 xīn new. A memory that stays brand-new — recalled as sharply as the day it happened.
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.
新 — 立 stand + 木 tree + 斤 axe
Originally depicted cutting fresh wood with an axe (斤) from a tree (木), with 辛/立 as the phonetic component. The original meaning of 'firewood' was later written as 薪, while 新 took on the extended sense of 'new' or 'fresh'.