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算命 (suàn mìng) — to tell someone's fortune, to practice fortune-telling

Definition

算命 means to tell someone's fortune (often a stranger doing it for a paying client, at a temple or street stall). It is a verb-object compound that can split as 算…命 or take 了/过 for past experience.

verb
to tell someone's fortuneto practice fortune-telling

Examples

  • 算命？？
    Nǐ suàn mìng guò ma? zhǔn bù zhǔn?
    Have you had your fortune told? Is it accurate?
  • 。
    Mā ma qù miào lǐ zhǎo rén suàn le yí cì mìng.
    Mom went to the temple to have her fortune told once.
  • 算命，。
    Zhè wèi lǎo xiān sheng shì zhuān mén suàn mìng de, měi tiān dōu yǒu hěn duō rén lái zhǎo tā.
    This old gentleman is a professional fortune teller; many people come to see him every day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

算suàncalculate
命mìngfate

The 算 calculate and 命 fate combine to mean telling someone's fortune.

Characters in this word

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

The current form 算 has 竹 on top, 目 in the middle, and 廾 below; the 目 part may have originally drawn counting rods, often made of bamboo.

Open 算 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng命mìng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

命 combines 口, a mouth, with 令, which gives the sound.

Open 命 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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