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学科 (xué kē) — subject; academic discipline; branch of learning

Definition

学科 is an academic discipline or school subject — a broader, more academic term than 科目, which usually refers to a single course or exam subject. Unlike 科, it always means a field of study, not a department or taxonomic family.

noun
subjectacademic disciplinebranch of learning
Measure word · 门

Examples

  • 学科。
    Wǒ xiǎng xué yì mén xīn xué kē.
    I want to learn a new subject.
  • 学科。
    Tā jiào wǒ men zhè mén xué kē yǐ jīng sān nián le.
    He has been teaching us this subject for three years.
  • 学科。
    Měi gè xué kē dōu yǒu bù tóng de xué xí fāng fǎ.
    Every subject has its own study methods.

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.

学xuéstudy
科kēcategory

学 “study” and 科 “category” together mean a category or 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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

  • 爻爻yáo
  • 六六liù

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

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
斗斗dòumeasuring tool
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé科kē
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
HSK 3.0 Level 5School Subjects

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