金融业 (jīn róng yè) — finance industry; financial sector

Definition

noun
finance industryfinancial sector

Examples

  • 金融业。
    Tā bì yè hòu jìn rù le jīn róng yè.
    He entered the finance industry after graduation.
  • 金融业。
    jīn róng yè De fā zhǎn duì guó jiā jīng jì hěn zhòng yào.
    The development of the financial sector is very important to the national economy.
  • 金融业。
    Tā zài jīn róng yè gōng zuò le hěn duō nián.
    She has worked in the finance industry for many years.

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.

金融finance
金jīnmoney融róngfinance
联合Side by side
业yèindustry

金融 means money and finance, and 业 adds the sense of an industry, so the word names the financial sector.

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.

金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.

Open 金 →

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
鬲鬲gécauldron
Sound part声符shēngfú
蟲
蟲chóng融róng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

融 pairs 鬲, a cauldron, with 蟲, which gives the sound.

Open 融 →

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 →

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