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专长 (zhuān cháng) — specialty; area of expertise

Definition

专长 names a person's personal skill or area of expertise (their specialty). Unlike 专业 (a field of study/profession) or 专家 (a person), it focuses on what someone is good at — close to 特长 and 强项.

noun
specialtyarea of expertise

Examples

  • 专长。
    Tā de zhuān cháng shì shì chǎng fēn xī.
    His specialty is market analysis.
  • 专长？
    Nǐ zài shè jì fāng miàn yǒu shén me zhuān cháng?
    What expertise do you have in design?
  • 专长。
    Měi gè yuán gōng dōu yīng gāi fā huī zì jǐ de zhuān cháng.
    Every employee should make use of their own specialty.

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zhuānspecial
长chángstrong point

“专” means special, and “长” is a strong point, so “专长” is a special ability or area of strength.

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

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

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