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职业 (zhí yè) — occupation; profession

Definition

职业 is a job or profession as a type of work (e.g. 医生, 教师). 行业 refers to an industry or sector as a whole, not a personal job.

noun
occupationprofession
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 职业？
    Nǐ zhǎo dào zhí yè le ma?
    Have you found an occupation?
  • 职业。
    Tā xiǎng zhǎo yí fèn xīn de zhí yè.
    She wants to find a new occupation.
  • 职业。
    Tā de zhí yè shì yī shēng.
    His profession is a doctor.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

职zhíduty
业yèoccupation

职 and 业 both denote one's occupation or work, forming a near-synonymous pair.

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 職; 职 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
戠
戠zhí職zhí
Same sound today

The traditional form 職 pairs 耳 (ear) with 戠, which gives its sound; the simplified 职 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 职 →

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 →
Appears in
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