转学
zhuǎn xué · HSK 7
to change schools
🎒 转 (turn/switch) + 学 (study) = switch where you study, change schools
转 means to turn or transfer, 学 means study or school. Stack them: transfer your studying elsewhere, i.e. move to a new school or college. Same 转 as in 转身 turn around and 转车 change buses.
转 — car radical 车 + 专 (phonetic)
转 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 车 (cart/wheel) gives the meaning, evoking something that turns or rotates like a wheel. The right side 专 supplies the sound. Originally referring to the turning of a cart's wheels, it broadened to mean 'turn,' 'rotate,' or 'shift' in general.
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.