文学院 (wén xué yuàn) — college of liberal arts, faculty of arts

Definition

noun

college of liberal artsfaculty of arts

Measure word · 个

文学院。
Wǒ jiě jie zài wén xué yuàn xué xí zhōng wén.
My older sister studies Chinese in the college of liberal arts.
文学院。
wén xué yuàn De tú shū guǎn cáng shū fēi cháng fēng fù.
The library of the college of liberal arts has a very rich collection.
文学院。
Tā jīn nián kǎo shàng le běi jīng dà xué de wén xué yuàn.
He got admitted to Peking University's college of liberal arts this year.

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.

文学literature

文wénliterature学xuéstudy

偏正Modifier + head

“文学” names literature, and “院” names a college or faculty.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The current form 文 shows a man with head, arms, legs, and chest; the tattoo marks on the chest are no longer drawn.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

阝完院

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

完

完wán院yuàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.