卖艺 (mài yì) — to make a living as a street performer; to perf…

Definition

卖艺 (mài yì) is a separable verb: 卖 + 艺, meaning to perform on the street (sing, juggle, etc.) in exchange for money. It refers specifically to busking as a livelihood, not stage performance.

verb

to make a living as a street performerto perform for money

Examples

，卖艺。
Wèi le shēng huó, tā bù dé bú zài jiē tóu mài yì.
To make a living, he had no choice but to perform on the streets.
。
Tā nián qīng shí zài jí shì shàng mài guò hǎo jǐ cì yì.
When he was young, he performed at the market several times to earn money.
卖艺。
Xiàn zài hěn shǎo yǒu nián qīng rén yuàn yì kào mài yì wéi shēng le.
Nowadays few young people are willing to make a living by performing on the streets.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

卖màisell

艺yìskill or performance

卖 means to sell, and 艺 means skill or performance, so the idea is selling one's performing skill.

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.

出出chūgo out
買買mǎibuy

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.

艹乙艺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

乙

乙yǐ艺yì

Same sound today

In 艺, the top 艹 points to plants, and the lower 乙 gives the sound.

Open 艺 →

Appears in