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学会 (xué huì) — learned society; institute; (scholarly) association

Definition

As a noun, 学会 means a 'learned society' or scholarly association (like 协会, but specifically academic). Don't confuse with the verb sense 'to learn (a skill)' written the same way (xuéhuì, no pause).

noun
learned societyinstitute(scholarly) association
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 。
    Tā jiā rù le yǔ yán xué huì.
    He joined a language association.
  • 学会。
    Zhè ge xué huì měi nián dōu jǔ bàn xué shù huì yì.
    This institute holds an academic conference every year.
  • 。
    Tā shì lì shǐ xué huì de huì yuán.
    She is a member of the historical society.

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.

学xuélearning
会huìassociation

学 “learning” and 会 “association” together mean an association devoted to learning.

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
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