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工场 (gōng cháng) — workshop; atelier

Definition

A small-scale workshop or atelier, often for crafts or light manufacturing. More artisanal and intimate than 工厂 ('factory'), which implies large-scale industrial production.

noun
workshopatelier
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 工场。
    Tā zài gōng cháng lǐ gōng zuò le hěn duō nián.
    He worked in the workshop for many years.
  • 工场。
    Zhè ge gōng cháng zhuān mén zhì zuò táo cí yì shù pǐn.
    This atelier specializes in making ceramic art.
  • 工场。
    Lǎo bǎn zhèng zài gōng cháng lǐ jiǎn chá shè bèi.
    The boss is checking equipment in the workshop.

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.

工gōngwork
场chǎngplace

工 and 场 give a place where work is done.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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 場; 场 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng場chǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 場 pairs 土 (earth) with 昜 as a sound part; the simplified 场 is a later abbreviation, so its parts do not have that historical role.

Open 场 →
Appears in
Industry & Manufacturing

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