月刊 (yuè kān) — monthly magazine; monthly periodical | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

monthly magazinemonthly periodical

Measure word · 本

Examples

。
Zhè běn yuè kān de nèi róng fēi cháng fēng fù.
This monthly magazine has very rich content.
月刊。
Tā měi yuè dōu huì mǎi yì běn wén xué yuè kān.
He buys a literary monthly every month.
月刊。
Zhè jiā chū bǎn shè fā xíng sān zhǒng bù tóng de yuè kān.
This publishing house issues three different monthlies.

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.

刊kānpublication

月 means month and 刊 means publication, naming a periodical issued monthly.

Characters in this word

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

月 was drawn as a crescent moon, with the curved outline showing the moon’s shape.

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

刀刀dāoknife

Sound part声符shēngfú

干

干gān刊kān

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

刊 uses 干 to show its sound and 刀, a knife, to show its meaning.

Appears in

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