假说 (jiǎ shuō) — (scientific) hypothesis; postulate

Definition

A scientific hypothesis — a proposed explanation to be tested, stronger than 猜想 (idle guess) and weaker than 理论 (established theory).

noun

(scientific) hypothesispostulate

假说。
Kē xué jiā tí chū le yí gè xīn jiǎ shuō lái jiě shì zhè ge xiàn xiàng.
Scientists put forward a new hypothesis to explain this phenomenon.
假说。
Zhè ge jiǎ shuō hái xū yào gèng duō de shí yàn lái yàn zhèng.
This hypothesis still needs more experiments to verify.
假说。
Dá ěr wén de jìn huà lùn zuì chū yě shì yì zhǒng jiǎ shuō.
Darwin's theory of evolution was also a hypothesis at the beginning.

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.

假说 is a 说 (theory) that is 假 (assumed), hence a hypothesis.

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.

亻叚假

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

叚

叚jiǎ假jiǎ

Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

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 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

言兌說

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

兌

兌duì說shuō

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 說 pairs 言 (meaning) with 兌 (sound); the simplified 说 is not the form described here.