广告业 (guǎng gào yè) — advertising industry

Definition

noun
advertising industry

Examples

  • 广告业。
    Zhōng guó de guǎng gào yè fā zhǎn dé hěn kuài.
    China's advertising industry is developing quickly.
  • 广告业。
    Tā dà xué bì yè hòu jìn rù le guǎng gào yè.
    After graduating from university, he entered the advertising industry.
  • 广告业。
    guǎng gào yè De jìng zhēng yuè lái yuè jī liè.
    Competition in the advertising industry is getting fiercer.

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.

广告advertisement
广guǎngbroad告gàoannouncement
偏正Modifier + head
业yèindustry

广 broad and 告 announcement make advertising, 业 gives the industry.

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 廣; 广 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
黃
黃huáng廣guǎng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 廣 combines 广 (meaning part) with 黃 (sound part); the simplified 广 is a later shorthand, not the full historical shape.

Open 广 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Open 告 →

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 →

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