科幻 (kē huàn) — science fiction (abbreviation for 科学幻想) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

science fiction (abbreviation for 科学幻想)

Examples

科幻，。
Wǒ zuì jìn kàn le yí bù kē huàn diàn yǐng, hěn yǒu yì si.
I recently watched a science fiction movie; it was very interesting.
科幻。
Hěn duō kē huàn zuò pǐn dōu miáo xiě le wèi lái de shì jiè.
Many science fiction works describe the world of the future.
科幻。
Zhè wèi zuò jiā xiě de kē huàn xiǎo shuō hěn shòu huān yíng.
The science fiction novels written by this author are very popular.

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.

科kēscience

幻huànfantasy

科 (science) specifies the kind of 幻 (fantasy), giving science fiction.

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.

禾斗科

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斗斗dòumeasuring tool

Sound part声符shēngfú

禾

禾hé科kē

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

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Literature & Poetry

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