营业员 (yíng yè yuán) — salesperson, shop assistant, clerk

Definition

noun
salespersonshop assistantclerk
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 营业员。
    Tā zài chāo shì dāng yíng yè yuán yǐ jīng sān nián le.
    He has been working as a clerk at the supermarket for three years.
  • 营业员。
    Nà wèi yíng yè yuán hěn rè qíng dì bāng wǒ zhǎo dào le wǒ yào de dōng xī.
    That salesperson warmly helped me find what I wanted.
  • 营业员。
    Zhè jiā diàn yí gòng yǒu wǔ gè yíng yè yuán.
    This shop has five salespeople in total.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

营业conduct business
营yíngoperate业yèbusiness
动宾Verb + object
员yuánperson

营业 (conducting business) and 员 (person) combine to mean someone who works in sales or business.

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 營; 营 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宮宮gōngpalace
Sound part声符shēngfú
熒
熒yíng營yíng
Same sound today

The traditional form 營 pairs 宮 (palace) with 熒 as a sound part, depicting a person working all night with a light on his house; the simplified 营 is a later abbreviation.

Open 营 →

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鼎鼎dǐngding
Sound part声符shēngfú
〇
〇líng員yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Open 员 →

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