国文 (guó wén) — the national written language (i.e., Standard Chinese); Chinese language and literature (as a field of study)

Definition

A traditional term, common in Taiwan and older contexts, meaning either the national written language (Standard Chinese) or the school subject 'Chinese language and literature.' In mainland China today 语文 is the usual school-subject label.

noun
the national written language (i.e., Standard Chinese)Chinese language and literature (as a field of study)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 国文。
    Tā de guó wén shuǐ píng hěn gāo.
    His level of written Chinese is very high.
  • 国文。
    Tā zài dà xué zhǔ xiū guó wén.
    He majored in Chinese language and literature at university.
  • 国文。
    Zhè xué qī wǒ xuǎn le guó wén kè.
    I chose a Chinese language class this semester.

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.

国guócountry
文wénwriting

国 and 文 name the country's written language.

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The current form 文 shows a man with head, arms, legs, and chest; the tattoo marks on the chest are no longer drawn.

Open 文 →

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