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专业 (zhuān yè) — (noun) major, specialty, specialized field; (adjective) professional, specialized

Definition

As a noun, 专业 means your field of study at university ('my major'); as an adjective, it means 'professional' (trained, skilled). Don't confuse with 职业 (your job/occupation) or 专门 (adverb meaning 'specially, on purpose').

noun
majorspecialtyspecialized field
adjective
professionalspecialized
Measure word · 门, 个

Examples

  • 专业？
    Nǐ dà xué xué de shì shén me zhuān yè?
    What is your major in college?
  • 专业。
    Tā shì yì míng fēi cháng zhuān yè de shè yǐng shī.
    He is a very professional photographer.
  • 专业。
    Zhè ge gōng sī xū yào gèng duō zhuān yè rén cái.
    This company needs more specialized talent.

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.

专zhuānspecialized
业yèfield

专 marks something as specialized, and 业 is a field or profession, together meaning a specialized field.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 專; 专 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 專 shows 又, a hand, turning 叀, a spindle; this came to mean gathering several things into one.

Open 专 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 4Professions & JobsSchool & Education2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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