市面 (shì miàn) — market conditions, business climate | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Refers to the overall state of the market — supply, demand, prices, business activity. Usually appears in phrases about whether trade is brisk (市面繁荣) or sluggish (市面萧条).

noun

market conditionsbusiness climate

Examples

市面。
Zuì jìn de shì miàn bú tài jǐng qì.
Recently, the market conditions are not very prosperous.
市面。
Tā měi tiān dōu zài guān zhù shì miàn de biàn huà.
He pays attention to the changes in market conditions every day.
市面，。
Yóu yú shì miàn bù hǎo, hěn duō gōng sī dōu guān le mén.
Because market conditions are bad, many companies have closed.

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.

面miànsurface

市 gives market and 面 gives surface or scene, so the word names market conditions.

Characters in this word

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

兮兮xībustling

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

之zhī市shì

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Appears in

Business & Commerce

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