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商贩 (shāng fàn) — peddler, street vendor

Definition

商贩 (shāng fàn) refers to a small-scale street seller or peddler, often without a fixed shop. Compared with 商人/商家, it suggests lower-status, itinerant trading rather than established business.

noun
peddlerstreet vendor
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 商贩。
    Jiē shàng yǒu hěn duō shāng fàn zài mài dōng xī.
    There are many street vendors selling things on the street.
  • 商贩。
    Nà ge shāng fàn mài de shuǐ guǒ hěn xīn xiān.
    The fruit sold by that peddler is very fresh.
  • 商贩。
    Guǎn lǐ rén yuán zhèng zài diào chá zhè xiē shāng fàn de qíng kuàng.
    The management staff are investigating the situation of these peddlers.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

商shāngtrade
贩fànpeddle

商 (trade) and 贩 (peddle) both concern selling goods, so the word names a peddler.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 商 →

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 販; 贩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
反
反fǎn販fàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 販 combines 貝, a cowry shell, with 反 as a sound part; the simplified 贩 is a shorthand and its right side is not a historical component.

Open 贩 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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