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拍卖行 (pāi mài háng) — auction house

Definition

noun
auction house
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 拍卖行。
    Zhè jiā pāi mài háng měi nián jǔ bàn liǎng cì dà xíng pāi mài huì.
    This auction house holds two large auctions every year.
  • 拍卖行，。
    Tā zài pāi mài háng gōng zuò, fù zé jiàn dìng gǔ dǒng.
    He works at the auction house, responsible for appraising antiques.
  • 拍卖行。
    Zhè fú huà shì cóng lún dūn de pāi mài háng mǎi huí lái de.
    This painting was bought back from an auction house in London.

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.

拍卖auction sale
拍pāiauction卖màisell
偏正Modifier + head
行xíngbusiness

拍卖 describes selling by auction, and 行 names the 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái拍pāi
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拍 puts 手 (hand) beside 白, which gives the pronunciation.

Open 拍 →

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 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →
Appears in
Business & Commerce

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