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字源zìyuánEtymology & Structure
字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight
接 = 扌 + 妾. The left side is 扌, the standing-hand form of 手 (shǒu, hand), and it carries the meaning: this is something a hand does. The right side is 妾 (qiè), and it supplies the sound, giving the old reading that wore down to modern jiē. A pictophonetic character, plain in its parts: a hand on the left, a phonetic marker on the right.
The Shuōwén Jiězì glosses 接 as 交也 (jiāo yě), to bring together, to make two things touch. Read the radical literally and the whole field of meaning unfolds from one gesture. Two hands reaching until fingers close over fingers; one hand stretched out as a thrown ball drops into the palm; an open hand turned upward to take what someone hands across. Every sense of 接 is the moment a gap closes and contact is made.
From that physical join the meaning spread outward. A hand that closes a gap can splice two ropes (连接 liánjiē, to link), can take a phone to the ear (接电话 jiē diànhuà, to answer a call), can wait at the platform to gather an arriving guest (接人 jiē rén, to meet someone). The wrist never leaves the word: whether the thing joined is a cable, a call, or a person, 接 keeps the image of a hand bridging the last small distance.
Japanese borrows the same character in 接する (sessuru, to come into contact) and 接続 (setsuzoku, connection), where it does identical duty for joining circuits, lines, and people. Korean reads it 접 (jeop), as in 접촉 (jeopchok, contact). Across all three the hand-that-joins survives intact.
接受jiēshòuReceive & Take
接受jiēshòuto accept, to receive
V 动词 dòngcí
接 (receive) + 受 (shòu, to be given). The hand takes what is offered and keeps it. Used for offers, opinions, criticism, conditions, anything you take in and agree to.
我接受你的道歉。
Wǒ jiēshòu nǐ de dàoqiàn.
I accept your apology.
他不愿意接受我们的建议。
Tā bù yuànyì jiēshòu wǒmen de jiànyì.
He is unwilling to accept our suggestion.
辨析 biànxī · 接受 vs. 收到收到 (shōudào) is the neutral fact of a thing arriving in your hands; 接受 adds your consent, you take it in and say yes to it.
直接zhíjiēdirect, directly
ADJ 形容词 xíngróngcí
直 (zhí, straight) + 接 (join). The two ends meet with nothing in between, a straight join. As an adverb it means doing a thing with no go-between, no detour.
你可以直接跟经理说。
Nǐ kěyǐ zhíjiē gēn jīnglǐ shuō.
You can speak to the manager directly.
这是导致失败的直接原因。
Zhè shì dǎozhì shībài de zhíjiē yuányīn.
This is the direct cause of the failure.
辨析 biànxī · 直接 vs. 间接间接 (jiànjiē) is the opposite: the join passes through a middle link, an indirect route.
接电话jiē diànhuàto answer the phone
VO 动宾 dòngbīn
接 (receive) + 电话 (diànhuà, phone call). To take up a ringing call and connect the line. The hand that closes the gap now closes a circuit.
他在开会，没办法接电话。
Tā zài kāihuì, méi bànfǎ jiē diànhuà.
He is in a meeting and cannot answer the phone.
接着jiēzheConnect & Continue
Once 接 joins two things end to end, it picks up a sense of sequence: one event taking up where the last left off. 接着 (jiēzhe) chains clauses the way fingers link in a relay, and 连接 (liánjiē) splices two parts into a continuous whole.
接着jiēzhenext, then, to follow on
ADV 副词 fùcí
接 (join) + 着 (zhe, continuing aspect). One action takes the baton from the one before it. Use it to mean "and then, right after that," or "go on (doing something)."
他先洗了脸，接着就出门了。
Tā xiān xǐ le liǎn, jiēzhe jiù chūmén le.
He washed his face first, then headed straight out the door.
请接着说，我在听。
Qǐng jiēzhe shuō, wǒ zài tīng.
Please go on, I am listening.
辨析 biànxī · 接着 vs. 然后然后 (ránhòu) just marks the next step; 接着 stresses that the next step follows on directly, with no gap.
连接liánjiēto connect, to link
V/N 动名 dòngmíng
连 (lián, to be joined in a chain) + 接 (to splice). To make two separate things into one continuous thing. Used for bridges, cables, networks, anything that bridges a gap.
这座桥连接了两个城市。
Zhè zuò qiáo liánjiē le liǎng gè chéngshì.
This bridge connects the two cities.
请检查网络连接。
Qǐng jiǎnchá wǎngluò liánjiē.
Please check the network connection.
迎接yíngjiēMeet & Greet
迎接yíngjiēto welcome, to go out to meet
V 动词 dòngcí
迎 (yíng, to go toward) + 接 (to receive). You walk out to meet an arrival and bring them in. Often warm or ceremonial: greeting guests, soldiers, the new year.
全村人都出来迎接归来的英雄。
Quán cūn rén dōu chūlái yíngjiē guīlái de yīngxióng.
The whole village came out to welcome the returning hero.
我们以茶迎接远道而来的客人。
Wǒmen yǐ chá yíngjiē yuǎndào ér lái de kèrén.
We welcome guests from afar with tea.
接人jiē rénto pick someone up, to meet someone
VO 动宾 dòngbīn
接 (to meet) + 人 (rén, person). To go to a station, airport, or door and collect a person who is arriving. The everyday counterpart to ceremonial 迎接.
明天我去机场接人。
Míngtiān wǒ qù jīchǎng jiē rén.
Tomorrow I am going to the airport to pick someone up.
辨析 biànxī · 接 vs. 送接 (jiē) is meeting an arrival; 送 (sòng) is seeing someone off. One brings the gap closed, the other lets it open.
接触jiēchùto come into contact, to engage with
V/N 动名 dòngmíng
接 (to touch) + 触 (chù, to make contact). Two surfaces meet, or two people start dealing with each other. Used for physical contact and for first encounters with ideas, fields, or strangers.
接二连三jiē èr lián sānjoining two and linking three: one after another, in quick successionThe numbers chain together the way 接 splices ropes. Used when events or troubles come without pause, like phone calls landing back to back.
接连不断jiē lián bù duànlinked and unbroken: continuous, without interruption接连 doubles the sense of joining; 不断 says the chain never breaks. Describes rain, applause, or news that keeps coming.
应接不暇yìng jiē bù xiáno spare moment to receive them all: too much to attend to at onceFrom the Shìshuō Xīnyǔ (世说新语), where the scenery of Shānyīn rushes at the traveler faster than the eye can take it in. Now used for being swamped by customers, sights, or tasks.
交头接耳jiāo tóu jiē ěrheads together, ears joined: to whisper privatelyTwo people lean in until one mouth nearly touches the other's ear. The image of leaning close to murmur in secret, often disapproving when done during a meeting or class.
记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image
Picture a relay race at the last exchange. One runner sprints in with the baton; the next stands with an open hand thrown back over the shoulder, palm up, fingers spread. For one stride the baton hangs in the air between them, then a hand closes over it. That closing hand is 接.
The left side of the glyph, 扌, is literally that reaching hand. The right side, 妾, is only the sound, the announcer's call of the name. Everything that matters is in the wrist on the left: the gap, the reach, the grip.
Hold the relay image and the whole word family lines up. 接电话 is catching a ringing baton called a phone. 迎接 is running out to take the baton from an arriving guest. 接着 is the next runner taking up the race the instant the last one finishes. Wherever 接 appears, look for the open hand closing the last small distance.
相关xiāngguānRelated
Related entries — pages and vocabulary in the neighbourhood of this one
接受jiēshòuto accept接着jiēzhethen, next直接zhíjiēdirect间接jiànjiēindirect迎接yíngjiēto welcome连接liánjiēto connect接触jiēchùto contact接班jiēbānto take over a shift送sòngto see off收到shōudàoto receive连liánto link然后ránhòuafterward