工业部 (gōng yè bù) — Ministry of Industry; industrial department (in a company)

Definition

Refers either to a government Ministry of Industry or to an industrial/production department inside a company — context (国家 vs. 公司) disambiguates which.

noun
Ministry of Industryindustrial department (in a company)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 工业部。
    Zhōng guó de gōng yè bù fù zé zhì dìng gōng yè zhèng cè.
    China's Ministry of Industry is responsible for formulating industrial policy.
  • 工业部。
    Tā zài gōng yè bù gōng zuò le hěn duō nián.
    He worked in the Ministry of Industry for many years.
  • 工业部。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī de gōng yè bù zhǔ yào fù zé shēng chǎn guǎn lǐ.
    This company's industrial department is mainly responsible for production management.

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.

工业industry
工gōngwork业yèbusiness
联合Side by side
部bùministry or department

工业 combines 工 and 业 to mean industry; with 部 it names a ministry or department of industry.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →

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
邑邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu部bù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Open 部 →

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