人文科学
じんぶんかがく · jinbunkagaku · JLPT N2 · noun
social science
📚 人文 = human + culture; 科学 = science. Together: the science of human culture
Jinbun means human culture or writing, and kagaku means science. The compound covers the study of people, society and culture, which is why it means both social sciences and humanities.
人 — pictograph of a standing person
人 is a pictograph showing a person viewed from the side, with two strokes representing the legs and torso of a standing human. In oracle bone script it clearly depicted a figure leaning slightly forward. The meaning has remained 'person' or 'human' throughout its history.
文 — pictograph of crossed lines on a chest
文 originally depicted a person with patterns or tattoos drawn on the chest, shown as crossed or interwoven lines. From this image of decorative markings, it came to mean 'pattern,' then 'writing,' 'script,' and 'literature' or 'culture.' The modern senses all trace back to the idea of meaningful marks.
科 — grain 禾 + measure 斗
科 combines 禾 (grain) and 斗 (a dipper/measure), originally depicting the act of measuring or grading grain. From this, it extended to mean classification, category, and branch of study. Today it commonly appears in words for science (科学) and academic disciplines.
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'.