夜大 (yè dà) — evening university (adult education program)

Definition

Short for 夜大学, a part-time adult-education university offering evening classes for working people. Used in everyday speech to refer to this kind of program.

noun
evening university (adult education program)
Measure word · 所
Easily confused

Examples

  • 夜大。
    Tā qù nián kāi shǐ zài yè dà xué xí.
    He started studying at an evening university last year.
  • 夜大，。
    yè dà De kè chéng ān pái hěn líng huó, shì hé zài zhí rén yuán.
    The course schedule at evening universities is very flexible, suitable for working people.
  • 夜大，。
    Cóng yè dà bì yè hòu, tā zhǎo dào le gèng hǎo de gōng zuò.
    After graduating from evening university, he found a better job.

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.

夜yènight
大dàuniversity

夜 indicates the time, and 大 names the university, so it is an evening university.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夕夕xīmoon
Sound part声符shēngfú
亦
亦yì夜yè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

Open 夜 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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