旧货 (jiù huò) — secondhand goods; junk

Definition

noun

secondhand goodsjunk

Measure word · 件

旧货。
Tā zài wǎng shàng mǎi le hěn duō jiù huò.
He bought a lot of secondhand goods online.
旧货。
Zhè jiān diàn lǐ mài de jiù huò dōu hěn pián yi.
The secondhand goods sold in this shop are all very cheap.
旧货。
Tā bǎ jiā lǐ de jiù huò dōu juān gěi le cí shàn jī gòu.
He donated all the junk from his home to a charity.

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.

旧 means old or used and 货 means goods, so the word names goods that are no longer new.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 舊; 旧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

雈雈huánowl

Sound part声符shēngfú

臼

Same sound today

The traditional form of 旧 is 舊, which shows 雈, an owl, above 臼, which gives the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貨; 货 is its simplified writing.

化貝貨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell, money

Sound part声符shēngfú

化

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貨 pairs 化 (sound) with 貝 (shell, money) to write valuable goods; the simplified 货 is a shorthand.

Appears in