CANTONESE ↔ ENGLISH · CC-CANTO

商

Cantonese · source Jyutpingsoeng1

commerce
merchant
dealer
to consult
2nd note in pentatonic scale
quotient (as in 智商, intelligence quotient)
to discuss

About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

soeng11 · high level

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

soeng相soeng1each other 想soeng2to thinksoeng3—常soeng4always 绱soeng5上soeng6on top

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

商

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

商 Shāng CC-CEDICT · MandarinShang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC); surname Shang
商 shāng CC-CEDICT · Mandarincommerce; merchant; dealer; to consult; 2nd note in pentatonic scale; quotient (as in 智商 zhì shāng, intelligence quotient)

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: shang1. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 15 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

soeng1

Cantonese word readings for 商. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

to calculate; to estimate; to reckon
to discuss; to consult; to deliberate
(of merchants) to trade; to do business; commerce
businessman; dealer; trader; merchant
(music) the second note in the Chinese pentatonic scale, equivalent to "2" in numbered musical notation
(literary) autumn (the shāng note was associated with autumn in ancient Chinese five-phase cosmology)
(astronomy) Alternative name for 心 (xīn, “Heart mansion, one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions; also called 商星”).
(historical) a division on the indicator rod of an ancient water clock; a unit roughly equal to a quarter hour
(～朝) the Shang dynasty (c. 1600 – 1046 BCE)
(historical) alternative name for the state of Song during the Spring and Autumn period, as the ruling house descended from the Shang royal family
(historical) name of various ancient places: — the fief of Xie, progenitor of the Shang dynasty, in present-day Shangluo, Shaanxi
(historical) name of various ancient places: — a Warring States period location in present-day Xichuan County, Henan, where Shang Yang was enfeoffed
(mathematics) quotient (result of division)
(mathematics) to yield as a quotient
a surname

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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