人类学 (rén lèi xué) — anthropology | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

anthropology

Examples

。
Wǒ dà xué shí xué guò rén lèi xué.
I studied anthropology in college.
人类学。
rén lèi xué Shì yì mén yán jiū rén lèi wén huà de xué kē.
Anthropology is a discipline that studies human culture.
人类学，。
Tā duì rén lèi xué fēi cháng gǎn xìng qù, jīng cháng qù tián yě diào chá.
He is very interested in anthropology and often goes on fieldwork.

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.

人类human kind

人rénhuman类lèikind

偏正Modifier + head

学xuéstudy

人类 means human kind and 学 means study, together the study of humans.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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 類; 类 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

犬犬quǎn

Sound part声符shēngfú

頪

頪lèi類lèi

Same sound today

The traditional form 類 pairs 犬, which relates to the meaning, with 頪, which gives the sound. The simplified 类 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 类 →

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.