专业课 (zhuān yè kè) — specialized course

Definition

noun
specialized course
Measure word · 门

Examples

  • 专业课。
    Zhè xué qī wǒ xuǎn le sān mén zhuān yè kè.
    I signed up for three specialized courses this semester.
  • 专业课，。
    zhuān yè kè De nèi róng hěn nán, xū yào hěn duō shí jiān xué xí.
    The content of specialized courses is very difficult and requires a lot of time to study.
  • ，专业课。
    Dà èr kāi shǐ, wǒ men jiù yào shàng zhuān yè kè le.
    Starting from sophomore year, we will take specialized courses.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

专业specialized subject
专zhuānspecialized业yèoccupation
偏正Modifier + head
课kèclass

专业 means specialized subject and 课 means class, so it denotes a specialized course.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 專; 专 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 專 shows 又, a hand, turning 叀, a spindle; this came to mean gathering several things into one.

Open 专 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 課; 课 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánto say
Sound part声符shēngfú
果
果guǒ課kè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 課 pairs 言 (to say) with 果 as a sound part; the simplified 课 is a shorthand and its right side is not a sound part.

Open 课 →

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