医科 (yī kē) — medical studies; medicine (as an academic field)

Definition

noun

medical studiesmedicine (as an academic field)

医科。
Tā dà xué xué de shì yī kē.
He studied medicine in university.
医科。
yī kē De kè chéng tōng cháng xū yào wǔ nián.
Medical courses usually take five years.
医科。
Tā bì yè hòu zài yì suǒ yī kē dà xué dāng lǎo shī.
After graduation, she became a teacher at a medical university.

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.

医yīmedicine

医 names medicine and 科 names a field, giving a medical field of study.

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 醫; 医 is its simplified writing.

殹酉醫

Meaning part形符xíngfú

酉酉yǒuliquor

Sound part声符shēngfú

殹

殹yì醫yī

Same sound today

The traditional form 醫 pairs 酉 (liquor) with 殹 as a sound part; the simplified 医 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

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

禾斗科

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斗斗dòumeasuring tool

Sound part声符shēngfú

禾

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

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

Appears in