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专程 (zhuān chéng) — specially, specifically (for a particular purpose)

Definition

专程 emphasizes making a special *trip or journey* for a purpose (often travel implied). Compare 专门, which is broader ('specially / dedicated'), and 特意/特地, which stress deliberate intent without the travel implication.

adverb
speciallyspecifically (for a particular purpose)

Examples

  • 专程。
    Tā zhuān chéng cóng shàng hǎi gǎn lái cān jiā wǒ de shēng rì pài duì.
    He came all the way from Shanghai specially to attend my birthday party.
  • 专程，。
    Wǒ zhuān chéng qù le yí tàng tú shū guǎn, jiù shì wèi le jiè nà běn shū.
    I made a special trip to the library just to borrow that book.
  • 专程。
    Tā zhuān chéng wèi zhè jiàn shì xiě le yì piān wén zhāng.
    She wrote an article specifically for this matter.

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zhuāndedicated
程chéngjourney

“专” gives dedicated, and “程” the journey, so “专程” means taking a trip specifically for a purpose.

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 →

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
禾禾hégrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
呈
呈chéng程chéng
Same sound today

程 is made from 禾 (grain) and 呈 (pronounced chéng); the evidence gives measurements.

Open 程 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

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