语言学 (yǔ yán xué) — linguistics; philology

Definition

noun

linguisticsphilology

语言学。
Wǒ dà xué zhǔ xiū yǔ yán xué.
I majored in linguistics in university.
语言学。
yǔ yán xué Shì yán jiū yǔ yán guī lǜ de kē xué.
Linguistics is the science that studies the laws of language.
语言学。
Tā duì yǔ yán xué hěn gǎn xìng qù.
He is very interested in linguistics.

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.

语言language

语yǔlanguage言yánspeech

联合Coordinate

语言 means language, and 学 means study, so 语言学 is the study of 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 語; 语 is its simplified writing.

言吾語

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

吾

Same sound today

The form 語 pairs 言 (speech) with 吾, which gives the sound; this note is about 語, not 语.

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

The early form of 言 shows an opening and a mark indicating a location; the location is not described as the source of speech.

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.

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.

Appears in