漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People
念: wish, sense
Also: idea, thought, feeling, desire, attention
心 carries the meaning · 今 gives the sound
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Western Zhou Small seal · Qin Today
Oracle bone, bronze and small seal: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
One reading, and the words that use it
ネンnen · on'yomi · in compounds
- 残念なざんねんなunfortunate, disappointing
- 概念がいねんidea, notion
- 信念しんねんfaith, conviction
- 記念日きねんびanniversary
- 念願ねんがんone's heart's desire
- 記念するきねんするcommemorate
- 専念するせんねんするdevote oneself to [v.i.]
- 断念するだんねんするabandon (hope, plan)
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogrammic compound (會意)今 upside-down mouth, as 亼 + 心 heart
Zhang (2021): Ideogrammic compound (會意): 亼 (“upside-down mouth”) + 心 (“heart”): to listen to one's heart. Original character for 念 (“to think”).
Source: Wiktionary, 念 (rev. 92917773), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“The ancient character once looked like a beating heart with its arteries. Today, 心 represents the very center of who we are—the place where our feelings bloom, our thoughts grow, and our spirit resides.”
Connections
Also built on now (今)
The 今 family reads キン (kin); 念 is read ネン.
Also read ネン
8 kanji share this on'yomiEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · niàn
Same form: 念 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 念 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 念 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin niàn most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.