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杂货店 (zá huò diàn) — general store, grocery store

Definition

noun
general storegrocery store
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 杂货店。
    Wǒ jiā fù jìn yǒu yì jiā zá huò diàn.
    There is a grocery store near my home.
  • 杂货店。
    Tā měi tiān qù zá huò diàn mǎi dōng xī.
    He goes to the grocery store to buy things every day.
  • 杂货店，。
    Zhè jiā zá huò diàn suī rán bú dà, dàn dōng xī hěn quán.
    Although this general store is not big, it has a full range of goods.

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.

杂货
杂zámiscellaneous货huògoods
偏正Modifier + head
店diànshop

杂货 'miscellaneous goods' and 店 'shop' name a store selling many kinds of goods.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雜; 杂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
集
集jí雜zá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 雜 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 集 as a sound part, originally referring to mixed colours, perhaps in dyed clothes; the simplified 杂 is a later shorthand.

Open 杂 →

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 貨; 货 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell, money
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà貨huò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貨 pairs 化 (sound) with 貝 (shell, money) to write valuable goods; the simplified 货 is a shorthand.

Open 货 →

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
广广guǎnghouse built to depend on a cliff
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn店diàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

店 shows 广, a house built to depend on a cliff, and 占, which gives the sound.

Open 店 →
Appears in
Shopping & Errands

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