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师范 (shī fàn) — teacher training; teacher education; normal school/university (institutional concept)

Definition

师范 (shīfàn) means 'teacher-training', referring to institutions or programs that train teachers. In 师范大学 it contrasts with a general 大学 by focusing specifically on teacher education.

noun
teacher trainingteacher educationnormal school/university (institutional concept)
Measure word · 所

Examples

  • 师范。
    Tā jué dìng bào kǎo yì suǒ shī fàn dà xué.
    He decided to apply to a normal university.
  • 师范。
    Hěn duō shī fàn zhuān yè de xué shēng bì yè hòu dāng lǎo shī.
    Many students in teacher-training majors become teachers after graduation.
  • 师范。
    Zhōng guó de shī fàn jiào yù lì shǐ yōu jiǔ.
    China's teacher education has a long history.

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.

师shīteacher
范fànmodel

师 (teacher) with 范 (model) gives the idea of a model for teachers, hence teacher training.

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 師; 师 is its simplified writing.

  • 𠂤𠂤𠂤
  • 帀帀zā

The traditional form 師 combines 𠂤 and 帀; the simplified 师 is not the form explained here.

Open 师 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
氾
氾fán范fàn
Same sound today

范 pairs 艸 (grass) with 氾, which gives its sound.

Open 范 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6School & Education

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