小买卖 (xiǎo mǎi mài) — small business, petty trade (often informal, street-level commerce)

Definition

小买卖 (xiǎo mǎi mài) refers to small-scale, informal commerce — street stalls, family-run shops, petty trade. Concretely for the learner: it's about size and informality, not a specific industry.

noun
small businesspetty trade (often informal, street-level commerce)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 小买卖。
    Tā kào zuò xiǎo mǎi mài yǎng huó le yì jiā rén.
    He supports his whole family by running a small business.
  • 小买卖，。
    Zhè ge xiǎo mǎi mài suī rán bú dà, dàn shōu rù hái bú cuò.
    This small business isn't big, but the income is pretty good.
  • ，小买卖。
    Tā měi tiān zài jiē biān bǎi tān, zuò diǎn xiǎo mǎi mài.
    She sets up a stall on the street every day and does a bit of petty trade.

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.

小xiǎosmall
买卖trade
买mǎibuy卖màisell
联合Side by side

小 (small) with 买卖 (buying and selling) means petty trade.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 買; 买 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 買, 网 is a net and 貝 is a money cowrie.

Open 买 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賣; 卖 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 賣 came from an older shape that joined 出 (go out) with 買 (buy), which gives the sound. The simplified 卖 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 卖 →

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