社会学 (shè huì xué) — sociology | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sociology

Examples

社会学。
Wǒ dà xué de zhǔ xiū shì shè huì xué.
I majored in sociology in college.
社会学。
Tā xiě le yì piān guān yú shè huì xué de lùn wén.
He wrote a paper about sociology.
社会学。
shè huì xué Yán jiū shè huì jié gòu hé rén lèi xíng wéi.
Sociology studies social structure and human behavior.

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.

社会society

社shècommunity会huìassociation

联合Coordinate

学xuéstudy

社会 names society and 学 names study, together forming the study of society.

Characters in this word

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

示示shìgod; deity
土土tǔsoil

社 joins 示 (god; deity) and 土 (soil), so its shape is about the god of the land.

Open 社 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

合合héto meet

Sound part声符shēngfú

𡆧

𡆧𡆧會huì

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

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →

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.