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学校 (xué xiào) — school

Definition

学校 (xuéxiào) is the general word for 'school' at any level — from primary to university. It pairs with 所 and is broader than 学院 (a college or institute within a university).

noun
school
Measure word · 所

Examples

  • 学校。
    Wǒ qù xué xiào.
    I go to school.
  • 学校。
    xué xiào Hěn dà.
    The school is very big.
  • 学校？
    xué xiào Yǒu huā ma?
    Does the school have flowers?

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xuéstudy
校xiàoschool

学 (study) + 校 (school) forms an institution for study.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
交
交jiāo校jiào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

校 is built from 木 (tree) on the left and 交 on the right, which supplies the sound.

Open 校 →
Appears in
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