記憶辭典 · 繁體中文

A Chinese dictionary
built on form and story.

Each entry opens a character's form — the components that carry its meaning and its sound — and gives it a story to remember it by, labeled 字源 history or 記憶法 memory aid. Definitions and example sentences stay within the learner's level.

Browse by band· Open an entry — 很· How entries work

Coverage today: 2662 characters and 7001 words across TOCFL bands A1 to C1.
C2 and beyond are on the loom; entries publish band by band as they pass review.
A 成語 idiom segment is next on the loom.

TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 (est.) · 字
很 character · TOCFL 1 (est.)
很 ＝ 彳 ＋ 艮
ㄏㄣˇ · hěn
adverb — very

字源 FORM — what the parts do

彳義a step
艮聲gèn — gives the soundan eye turned back over the shoulder — a glare
{g,k,h}ITgèn → hěn — the {g,k,h} crossing; tone shifts too
A step (彳) on the left; 艮 gèn carries the sound, g worn to h — its old graph an eye glaring back over the shoulder. The first word is defiance, fierce and unyielding (that sense now written 狠); the fierceness wore down into the everyday degree word: 很多、很好.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

腳步（彳）停住，回過頭瞪一眼（艮）——偏不走。
The steps (彳) stop; the head turns with a glare (艮) — not moving.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)違逆、兇悍— defiant, fierce — the old word, now written 狠
→很（程度詞）— very — the fierceness worn into a degree word常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
狠＝ 犬 ＋ 艮hěnthe lookalike — 狠 bites with the dog 犭, 很 walks with 彳恨＝ 忄 ＋ 艮hènthe same 艮 with a heart — resentment
How an entry is built

Each part of an entry follows a finding from memory research.
Parts that aren't finished yet are marked.

第一

形 · Form

Each character is broken into its components — which part carries the meaning, which carries the sound. Components recur across characters, so one analysis carries into the next entry.

✓ in every entry
第二

故事 · Story

Each character carries a story built from its components, judged by one outcome: the character sticks. A small mark notes which stories are sourced history（字源）and which are memory aids（記憶法）.

✓ in every entry
第三

Two definitions

An English definition and a 簡明中文 definition written within the level's own vocabulary. Reading the Chinese one is practice in itself; the English one is there when speed matters.

✓ in every entry
第四

Examples inside the level

Example sentences stay within the level's vocabulary, so the headword is the only new thing in the sentence.

◌ in progress
第五

Sound and script

Audio for words and sentences, readings in both zhuyin and pinyin — two channels of encoding instead of one.

◌ in progress
紡ぐ — to spin thread.
每查一個字，織進記憶一條線。
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