商业部 (shāng yè bù) — Ministry of Commerce

Definition

noun
Ministry of Commerce

Examples

  • 商业部。
    shāng yè bù Fù zé zhì dìng guó jiā de shāng yè zhèng cè.
    The Ministry of Commerce is responsible for formulating the country's commercial policies.
  • 商业部。
    Zuó tiān shāng yè bù fā bù le yí fèn xīn de mào yì bào gào.
    Yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce released a new trade report.
  • 商业部。
    shāng yè bù De guān yuán zhèng zài tǎo lùn rú hé cù jìn chū kǒu.
    Officials from the Ministry of Commerce are discussing how to boost exports.

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.

商业business
商shāngtrade业yèbusiness
联合Side by side
部bùministry

商业 means business or commerce, and 部 means a ministry or department, giving the Ministry of Commerce.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 商 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
邑邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu部bù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Open 部 →

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