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论文 (lùn wén) — academic paper; thesis; treatise

Definition

论文 (lùnwén) is a formal written work — a paper, thesis, or treatise in an academic context. It refers to the completed work itself, not the act of arguing a point (that's 论述).

noun
academic paperthesistreatise
Measure word · 篇

Examples

  • 论文。
    Tā xiě le yì piān guān yú jīng jì xué de lùn wén.
    He wrote an economics paper.
  • 论文。
    Zhè piān lùn wén hái xū yào xiū gǎi yí xià.
    This paper still needs some revision.
  • 论文？
    Nǐ de lùn wén shén me shí hou fā biǎo?
    When will your thesis be published?

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.

论lùndiscuss
文wénwriting

论 discuss and 文 writing combine for an academic paper.

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 論; 论 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánsay
Sound part声符shēngfú
侖
侖lún論lùn
Same sound today

The traditional form 論 pairs 言 (“say”) with 侖 as a sound component; the simplified 论 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 论 →

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.

Open 文 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5School & Education5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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