?

II.

10

shngdin: Store

<a>

Tng-Shu: Listening & Speaking

1.

Pzi: Stores
We generally go to a store to buy things

shngdin

store; shop

pzi

store; shop [*Generally referring to

smaller
shngdin]

There are stores that sell a special line of merchandise:

shdin

bookstore

wnjdin

stationary store

wnjdin

toy store

fzhungdin

clothing store

hudin

flower shop

There are also the stores that market special features such as carrying a wide range of merchandize or offers
convenient shopping:

bihu din
binl shngdin

(1)

N q nr mi b?
Where do you go to buy pens?

?
W q wnjdin mi b.
I go to a stationary store to buy pens.
(2)

Nmen q nr mi yf?
Where do you go to buy clothes?

M. Chu, 19

general store [literally: hundredmerchandise store]

convenience store [*Neighborhood store
with shorter cashier lines]

10

Wmen ky q fzhungdin, y ky q bihugngs mi yf.

We may go to a clothing shop, and we may also go to a department store to buy clothes.
(3)

Nini hwnle, znme bn?

Milk is all gone. What should we do?

Mi wnt! W xinzi q binl shngdin mi ba.

No problem! Ill go to the convenience store to get some now.

2.

Shngchng: Shopping Mall

When the market grows, we start to have shopping malls that have many stores clustered together for onestop shopping of a great variety of goods:

shngchng

Shopping mall; shopping center

shngchng

Shopping center

bihu gngs
guwzhngxn

department store [bigger and higher-end

store than
bihu din]
Shopping center

(1)

xn: new]

Wji nr yu yge xnde shngchng. Xing q nr gungguang ma?

There is a new shopping mall near my home. How about going there for some window-shopping?

Ho a! W tngshu nr yu yji mi dinwn de shngdin.

Sounds good! I heard that there is a shop selling video games over there.
(2)

N sh yge guw zhngxn. Lmin yu hojge bihu gngs.

That is a Shopping Center. There are a good number of department stores in it.

M. Chu, 20

10

For our daily necessities, we have marketplace and comprehensive marketplace:

shchng

market

chosh

supermarket

(3)

Qngwn, nr ky mido ryngpn?

Could you tell me where can I get some household daily supplies?

Xuxiode shdin yuxi ryngpn. N y ky q chosh h bihugngs

mi. The school bookstore has some household daily supplies. You may also go to a supermarket
or department store to buy them.

To facilitate modern living for busy people, more and stores are offering online shopping:

wngshng guw

online shopping

(4)

N sh xhun q shngdin midngxi hish xhun shngwng midngxi?

Do you like to go to a store to buy things or go online to buy things?)

Wngshng guw ti fngbin le. W xinzi hnsho q shngdin midongxi.

Online shopping is so convenient. Now I rarely go to a store to buy things.

shngwng

go online; get on the internet

fngbin

convenient

M. Chu, 21

?
<b>

10

D-Xi: Reading and Writing

1.

din: store; shop

1)

The character is generally understood as a phono-semantic combination with

(shelter; hut) indicating its
meaning category and
(pronounced zhn in modern Mandarin) approximating its pronunciation.

shdin

bookstore

wnjdin

stationary store

wnjdin

toy store

fzhungdin

clothing store

bihudin

general store, department store

wjndin

hardware store [Literally: five-metal store]

Shng zhngxu yhu, w hn sho q wnjdin le.

After starting high school, I have rarely gone to the toystores.

?
Wmen xuxio de shdin mi sh, mi wnj, y mi yfu h ryngpn.
The bookstore at our school sells book, stationaries, and also sells clothes and household supplies.

Nige wjndin yu hndu yuyng de gngj.

That hardware store has many useful tools.

2)

shng: business
(
?)
( ?)
(
)
(
)
The meaning of the character has been interpreted as deriving from its components:
(speech) and
(inside), as to express ones inner feelings (by Wieger as quoted in the Wenlin Program). Looking at the
ancient graphs of the
? script, we may interprete the images as portraying a table with people on two
sides of it. If that is a reasonable reading of the graphs, it may explain the roots of the characters meaning
of negotiation, consultation, or discussion.

M. Chu, 22

10

shngrn

merchant; businessman

shngdin

store; shop

shngpn

commodity; goods; merchandise

shngxuyun

Business School

chshng

tea merchant

shngchng

shopping mall; business world; market

T zi wmen dxu de shngxuyun shngxu.

He goes to school at our universitys Business School.

T fqin sh shngrn. Tmen kile yji hn d de ryngpn shngdin.

His father is a businessman. They run a big household supplies store.

3)

s: manage; operate; take charge of

(
?)
( ?)
(
)
(
)
The ancient graphs are generally understood as verbally announce orders. The character has been used for
the meaning of duty or charge.

gngs

company

bihu gngs

department store

sf

administration of justice

sj

driver; chauffeur; [literally: operating a

machine]

T zi yji fzhung gngs gngzu. T sh niji gngs desj.

He works for a clothing company. He is a driver for that company.

M. Chu, 23

10

sh: market; city

4)

?
The ancient graphs may indicate the hustling and bustling of people coming and going and making noises
or illustrating a trading activity between two parties. While there is no all-agreed-upon explanation, it is
generally agreed, however, that the character was used for the meaning of market, a central location
where people gathered to meet, chat, and trade. In current combinations/words including the character ,
one or more of these meanings still play the central role.

shchng

market

shngsh
xish

go on the market; become available in the

market
go off the market; unseasonal

nish

bull market

choj shchng

supermarket

chosh

supermarket

hush

flower market

hish

black market

Tmen yqin q cichng mi ci, q hush mi hu. Xinzi tmen mi ci mi hu d

q chosh. (Before, they went to the food market to shop for food, to the flower market to buy flowers.
Now for buying both food and flowers, they go to the supermarket.)

Yqin bici shngsh yhu, tmen ji tintin ch bici. Xinzi chosh tintin yu
bici. (Before, their family ate cabbage everyday after it got on to the market. Now cabbage is always
available at the supermarket.)

2.

5)

xn: new
?
?
The ancient graphs depict an axe toward a tree, to chop wood to produce firewood. This could be the earlier
form for
(firewood). Then, firewood is used to make new food, thus the meaning of new.

M. Chu, 24

10

xnshng

new life; rebirth; regeneration

xnshng
xnnin

new student [abbreviated from

]
new year

xn yfu

new clothes

xn fngzi

new house

xnfng

bridal chamber

xnxin

fresh

Tde sh sh xnde, shbo ysh xnde. Xn shbo l yu hndu xnsh.

His books are new, his book-bag is also new. Inside the new book-bag there are many new books.

T shngri de ni tin t mma gi t mile yjin xn yfu.

On the day of his birthday, his mom bought a new clothes for him.

Jnnin de xnshng zh de ssh sh y dng xn fngzi.

The dorm in which this years new students live is a new building.

Zhige ru b xnxin, bi mi!

This meat is not fresh. Dont buy it!

6)

ji: old; used; worn

?
?
The ancient scripts consistently depict a bird over some vessel-like thing. It is not certain about the original
meaning that associated with these images. It might have referred to a bird or the nest of the bird. We are
also uncertain how the current meanings of the character, old; used; worn, were developed. A mnemonics
here: a bird nest that is under the grassold and worn. As we already learned that the top component
is grass, the middle component
is a short-tailed bird, and, now, the lower component
may be a
nest, this mnemonics may help us remember how to write the complex character by connecting the
components.

M. Chu, 25

10

ji: mortar
We do not find the earlier forms of the character
in the
? or ? scripts. Therefore it may not be
logical to consider
as the earlier form or as the phonetic indicator of .

loji

old and worn out; old styled

jiyfu

old clothes; used clothes; worned clothes

jisxing

old-fashioned ideas

W xhun chun ji yfu. Chun xn yfu miyu chun ji yfu shfu.

I like to wear old clothes. Wearing new clothes is not as comfortable as wearing old clothes.

3.

gu: valuable; expensive

7)
(

?)

?)

The ancient
? graph above shows two hands over earth or soil, possibly expressing the idea of
pointing, nurturing or taking care of something precious. In some of the
graphs, the image of
(cowry or currency) was added and such image remains in later scripts.

guxng

honorable family name

bogu

valuable; precious

Qngwn, nn guxng?
May I ask your honorable family name?

W xng Wng, jio Wng Yfng, boydey, dfngdefng.

My family name is Wang and my name is Wang Yufang: the character yu as in the word baoyu and the
character fang as in the word difang.

M. Chu, 26

10

Nn mi bom ma?
Are you buying a BMW?

B! bom tigu, w bmi.

No! BMW is too expensive, Im not buying it.

W miyou qin mi gu dngxi. W mi btigude dngxi.

I dont have money to buy very expensive things. Ill buy things that are not too expensive.

Xixie djide bogu yjin.

Thanks to all for your valuable ideas/suggestions.

8)

hu: goods; commodity

(
)
(
)
The character is gerenally understood as a phono-semantic combination with its component
indicating
its meaning category and
(pronounced hu in modern Mandarin) approximating its pronunciation. We
may, however, also want to consider a different explanation of the meaning of the character. Considering
the formation of the character as associative combination of two meaning-contributing components:
change ( ) and currency ( ). Through a trading activity, currency may be changed to goods and
goods may be changed to currency. Furthermore, the earlier meanings of the character also include trade
and buy and sell as well as goods.

shuhu

smuggled goods; unauthorized goods

rshuhu

second-hand goods; used goods

jihu

secondhand goods; used goods; junk

bihu

general merchandise

What is the literal meaning of

__________________________

Nmen mibumi Pnggu shuj?

Do you sell Apple cellphones?

M. Chu, 27

10

Wmen mi Pnggu shuj, ksh xinzi miyuhu. Nn mi yge Snxng de ba.

Yes, we do sell Apple cellphones, but they are now out of stock. Why dont you buy a Samsung one.

Zh ji mi jihu de shngdin yu hndu btiji de rshuhu. Jiqian bgu, dngxi

y bcu.
This used-goods store has many not too old secondhand stuff. The price is not expensive and quality is
pretty good.

9)

ji: price; value

The character is generally understood as a phono-semantic combination, with (human; person)
representing its meaning category and
(pronounced ji in modern Mandarin) approximating its
pronunciation. It is likely that this character is a later development of the following.
ji; g: merchant; (family name)
The earlier meaning of this character is more easily traceable. The meaning of this character, merchant, is
closely related to
(cowry; currency) and its pronunciation is related to the its top component
(while
no longer used as an independent character, it carries the pronunciation of xi).
jiqin

price

jingji

bargain; haggle

toji hunji

haggle over price

b rji

fixed price

shngg

merchant

Ji boy

one of the key characters in the novel

Hnglu Mng (Dream
of the Red Chamber)

W xhun q b'rji de shngdin mi dngxi. Tmende jiqin gu dinr, ksh yu

xnyng.
I like to go to buy things at the stores with fixed prices. Their price may be a little higher but they are
trustworthier.

M. Chu, 28

?
10)

10

gu: purchase

The character
category and

is a phono-semantic combination, with

(cowry; currency) indicating its meaning
(pronounced gu in modern Mandarin) indicating its pronunciation.

gumi

purchase [a literary form for

gumil

purchasing power

guhu

purchase commodities

dinhu guhu

purchasing goods through telephone order

wngshng guhu

online shopping

Niji fngw zhngji gngs hn yu xnyng. xing gumi fngw de rn du xin

q nli.
(That housing intermediary company has good reputation. All those who plan to buy a house go there first.)

_
Yng dinhu guhu h wngshng guhu fngsh mi dngxi de rn yuliyu du.
More and more people are buying things through telephone order or online purchase.

Bnd dngfng shpn shngdin de kren yuliyu du. Tmen de jiqin shbush
yuli yugu?
The customers of the local Asian food store are getting more and more. Is their price also getting more and
more expensive?

11)

yuliyu

more and more

fngbin

convenient

fngbinmin

instant noodles

bin: convenient

?
Clear etymology is not available.

M. Chu, 29

10

pin: comfortable
piny

cheap

Fngbinmin hn fngbin, y hn pinyi.

Instant noodles are very convenient (to fix) and also very cheap.

12)

l: sharp; benefit; profit

?

binl

easy; convenient

binl shngdin

convenience store

lyng

use; utilize

Q binl shngdin mi dngxi hn fngbin, ksh nr de dngxi b pinyi.

It convenient to buy things at the convenience store, but things there are not cheap.

Ll lyng jiq q knle tde ninai, y q shngchng mile hndu xn yf.

Lele used her vacation time to visit her grandma and also to go to the shopping mall and bought many new
clothes.

T xing lyng t fqin de gunxi zi shngchng zho yge gngzu.

She wishes to use her fathers connection t o find a job at the shopping mall.

M. Chu, 30

10

<c>

Linx: Exercises

1.

Bhu jigu: Character Strokes and Structures

(1) Traditional Characters: Trace and write to become familiar with the structure of characters

din: store
: bookstore

xn: new

shng: business

s: manage; in charge

: store; shop

ji: old

: new year

: company

gu: valuable; expensive

: old

: valuable

clothes

ji: price
: price

gu: purchase
: purchase

M. Chu, 31

sh: city; town

: market

hu: goods
: general
merchandise

bin: convenient

l: benefit; profit

: convenient

: convenient

10

1.

Bhu jigu: Character Strokes and Structures

(2) Simplified Characters: Trace and write to become familiar with the structure of characters

din: store
: bookstore

xn: new

shng: business

s: manage; in charge

: store; shop

ji: old

: new year

: company

gu: valuable; expensive

: old

: valuable

clothes

ji: price
: price

gu: purchase
: purchase

M. Chu, 32

sh: city; town

: market

hu: goods
: general
merchandise

bin: convenient

l: benefit; profit

: convenient

: convenient

10

Notes on Character Simplification:

1.

Adopting the method of

(cosh kihu):
Using the short-hand cursive style (
cosh) of a traditional full-form character or character
component but linearizes the connected or tangled strokes into independent standard style (
kish) stroke lines.
is simplified to
is simplified to

2.

Adopting the method of

(jb shnch):
Deleting certain component of the traditional character
is simplified to
The simplified character
keeps only the component
(jade) under
(roof) and deletes
the other two components,
(container) and
(cowry; currency), of the traditional
character .

3.

Multiple levels of processes may have been involved in the simplification of certain characters.
There is no certainty how the character
is simplified to . It is possible that
was first
reduced to , a component that carries the same pronunciation, and then further simplied by using
two easier to write components, one verticle line
and commonly known character .
is simplified to

4.

Adopting the method of

(xnzo xngshngz):
Forming a new semantic-phonetic character (having one component representing the semantic
category and another component representing the sound value of the new character) with simple
components.
is simplified to
is simplified to
The simplification of the character
also includes the
(cosh kihu)
process first to simplify
to , before changing the phonetic component from
gu
gu.

M. Chu, 33

?
2.

10

C y duyng: Matching words with meaning

Write the Chinese equivalent of the following in characters

<i> bookstore: __________________

<ii> stationary store _______________

<iii> toy store _______________

<iv> food store: _______________

<v> clothing store: ________________

<vi> department store: _____________

<vii> store; shop: ________________

<viii> merchant: _______________

<ix> merchandise: ________________

<x> Business School: _________________

<xi> shopping mall: ________________

<xii> market: _________________

<xiii> new year: ________________

<xiv> fresh: _________________

<xv> new house: ________________

<xvi> bridal chamble: _________________

<xvii> old clothes ________________

<xviii> old ideas: _________________

<xix> valuable: ________________

<xx> second-hand goods: _________________

<xxi> price: ________________

<xxii> fixed price: _________________

<xxiii> purchase: ________________

<xxiv> purchasing power: _________________

M. Chu, 34

10

3.

Hud wnt: Answer Questions

Work with a language partner and take turn to ask and answer these questions.
<i> Record your conversation.
<ii> Write your answers and translate them into English.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

binl: convinent]

7)

8)

M. Chu, 35

shngwng: get on the internet]