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会考 (huì kǎo) — high school graduation exam (in China); standardized achievement test for students from multiple schools

Definition

会考 (huìkǎo) is the Chinese high school graduation achievement exam, usually run province-wide. It's not 高考 — 高考 is the national college entrance exam; 会考 tests high school completion.

noun
high school graduation exam (in China)standardized achievement test for students from multiple schools

Examples

  • 会考。
    Gāo zhōng huì kǎo de chéng jì duì shēn qǐng dà xué yě yǒu yí dìng yǐng xiǎng.
    High school graduation exam results also have some impact on college applications.
  • 会考。
    Zhè cì huì kǎo de tí mù bǐ qù nián nán yì xiē.
    The questions on this graduation exam are a bit harder than last year's.
  • 会考。
    Quán shěng de huì kǎo jiāng zài liù yuè tǒng yī jǔ xíng.
    The provincial graduation exam will be held uniformly in June.

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.

会huìjoint
考kǎoexam

会 indicates joint and 考 indicates examination, giving a unified exam.

Characters in this word

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →

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

  • 耂耂lǎoan old man with long hair, bent over
  • 丂丂kǎoa walking cane

In 考, the upper 耂 is an old man with long hair, bent over, and the lower 丂 is a walking cane.

Open 考 →
Appears in
Exams & GradesSchool & Education

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