科学と化学

[gofai]

Hello everybody, I have a question.
I want to say "My major is chemistry" but not "My major is science"
But 化学 and 科学 have the same hiragana かがく
If I said:

私はかがくを専攻している学生です。

How people can distinguish 化学 and 科学 in spoken japanese?
Thanks you!

 

[epigene]

Hello everybody, I have a question.
I want to say "My major is chemistry" but not "My major is science"
But 化学 and 科学 have the same hiragana かがく
If I said:
私はかがくを専攻している学生です。
How people can distinguish 化学 and 科学 in spoken japanese?
Thanks you!

They are both "kagaku" when the difference can be picked by context. However, it is very difficult to differentiate that way, people deliberately refer to chemistry as "bake-gaku" from the kanji used.

If you say: 私はかがくを専攻している学生です, I'm pretty sure many people will know it's "chemistry" by context.

The same happens to 私立 and 市立 both read "shiritsu."
To differentiate, the first sometimes is read "watakushiritsu" and the second read "ichiritsu."

FYI!

 

[pipokun]

化学->化け学 (bakegaku)
私は、化学、ばけがくの方を専攻しています。
私は、科学、ばけがくではなく、科学一般を専攻してい ます。

1. prouncing Kunyomi
2. explaining the meaning
Eg.
はし
橋 渡る橋の方です。
箸 食べる時の箸の方です。

 

[gofai]

I see! Thank YOU~~
Actually my major is chemistry

 

[Yusupov]

My Japanese teacher told me that 科学 is science and 化学 is chemistry, and that's how they used it at a Japanese high school I briefly studied at.