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课本 (kè běn) — textbook

Definition

课本 is the everyday school textbook a student carries and reads. 课文 is the text or lesson inside it, while 教材 and 教科书 are the more formal terms used for teaching materials in general.

noun
textbook
Measure word · 本

Examples

  • 课本。
    Wǒ men zhè xué qī yòng yì běn xīn kè běn.
    We are using a new textbook this semester.
  • 课本。
    Tā mǎi le yì běn hàn yǔ kè běn.
    He bought a Chinese textbook.
  • 课本。
    Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men kàn kè běn de kè wén.
    The teacher asked us to read the lesson in the textbook.

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.

课kèlesson
本běnbook

课 lesson and 本 book combine to mean a book for lessons, a textbook.

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 課; 课 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánto say
Sound part声符shēngfú
果
果guǒ課kè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 課 pairs 言 (to say) with 果 as a sound part; the simplified 课 is a shorthand and its right side is not a sound part.

Open 课 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Open 本 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3Classroom & StudySchool & Education

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