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百货公司 (bǎi huò gōng sī) — department store

Definition

noun
department store
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 百货公司。
    Zhè jiā bǎi huò gōng sī de dōng xī hěn quán.
    This department store has a very complete selection of goods.
  • 百货公司。
    Wǒ zhōu liù qù bǎi huò gōng sī mǎi dōng xī.
    I'm going to the department store to shop on Saturday.
  • 百货公司。
    bǎi huò gōng sī Lǐ yǒu hěn duō guó jì pǐn pái.
    There are many international brands in the department store.

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.

百货many goods
百bǎimany货huògoods
偏正Modifier + head
公司company
公gōngpublic司sīoffice
偏正Modifier + head

百货 names many goods, 公司 names a company; together a store for many 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái百bǎi
Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

Open 百 →

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →
Appears in
Shopping & Errands

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