卖价 (mài jià) — selling price

Definition

noun
selling price

Examples

  • 卖价。
    Zhè ge fáng zi de mài jià tài gāo le.
    The selling price of this house is too high.
  • 卖价？
    Nǐ néng bǎ mài jià jiàng dī yì xiē ma?
    Can you lower the selling price a bit?
  • 卖价。
    mài jià Hé chéng běn jià xiāng chā hěn dà.
    The selling price and the cost price are very different.

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.

卖màisell
价jiàprice

“卖” means sell and “价” means price, together they give the price at which something is sold.

Characters in this word

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 →

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
人人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
介
介jiè价jiè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

价 pairs 人 (person) with 介, which gives the sound.

Open 价 →

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