课文 (kè wén) — text (in a textbook or lesson)

Definition

课文 is the lesson text the student reads in class. It pairs with the measure word 篇; 课本 is the whole textbook that contains many 课文.

noun

text (in a textbook or lesson)

Measure word · 篇

课文。
Jīn tiān wǒ men xué xí yì piān xīn de kè wén.
Today we are studying a new text.
课文。
Nǐ dú yí xià zhè piān kè wén.
Read this text for a moment.
课文。
Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men xiě yì piān kè wén.
The teacher asked us to write a text.

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.

课 lesson and 文 text combine to mean the text used for a lesson.

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 課; 课 is its simplified writing.

言果課

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánto say

Sound part声符shēngfú

果

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 課 pairs 言 (to say) with 果 as a sound part; the simplified 课 is a shorthand and its right side is not a sound part.

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.

Appears in