专刊 (zhuān kān) — special issue (of a periodical); monograph (sch…

Definition

noun

special issue (of a periodical)monograph (scholarly book on a single subject)

Measure word · 期

专刊。
Zhè běn zhuān kān de nèi róng fēi cháng fēng fù.
The content of this special issue is very rich.
专刊。
Tā zài zhè jiā bào zhǐ de zhuān kān shàng fā biǎo le wén zhāng.
He published an article in this newspaper's special column.
专刊。
Zhè běn zhuān kān shì guān yú zhōng guó gǔ dài lì shǐ de.
This monograph is about ancient Chinese history.

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.

刊kānpublication

专 means 'special' and 刊 means 'publication', so it is a special issue.

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.

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú

刀刀dāoknife

Sound part声符shēngfú

干

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

刊 uses 干 to show its sound and 刀, a knife, to show its meaning.

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