成本 (chéng běn) — cost (of production, manufacturing, etc.) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

cost (of production, manufacturing, etc.)

Examples

成本。
Zhè ge xiàng mù de chéng běn tài gāo le.
The cost of this project is too high.
成本。
Gōng sī zhèng zài xiǎng bàn fǎ jiàng dī chéng běn.
The company is trying to find ways to reduce costs.
成本。
Wǒ men xū yào kòng zhì shēng chǎn chéng běn.
We need to control production costs.

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.

成chéngproduced

本běncapital

成 points to what is produced, 本 is the capital behind it.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng成chéng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Business & Commerce

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