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创业 (chuàng yè) — to start a business; to venture into a new enterprise

Definition

创业 (chuàngyè) is specifically about starting a business as a career. Unlike 创立/创办/开创 (founding an organization, era, or field), it refers to entrepreneurial ventures.

verb
to start a businessto venture into a new enterprise

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā chuàng guò yí cì yè, dàn shī bài le.
    He started a business once, but failed.
  • 创业。
    chuàng yè Zhēn bù róng yì.
    Starting a business is really not easy.
  • 创业。
    Nián qīng rén dōu xiǎng chuàng yè.
    Young people all want to start businesses.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

创chuàngstart
业yèundertaking

The 创 part points to starting or making, and 业 supplies undertaking or business, so the word means to start a venture.

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 創; 创 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
倉
倉cāng創chuàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 創 pairs 倉 with 刀 (knife) to write 'wound', and 倉 gives the pronunciation. The simplified 创 is a later shorthand.

Open 创 →

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 5HSK 2.0 Level 6Business & Commerce

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