<p>The original form of the top part of 賣 is 出.</p>
<p>《說文》</p>
<blockquote>
<p>作。出物貨也。从出从買。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>出物貨也：<br />
出：拿出 take out<br />
物：物品 goods<br />
貨：交易 to trade</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/daxJN.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/daxJN.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>買<br />
《說文》</p>
<blockquote>
<p>作，市也。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>市：做買賣。to trade</p>
<p>「買」本指商品交易，兼有「買、賣」二義，後來專指交易中的買入。<br />
買 refers to the commodity trading activities, both &quot;to buy and to sell&quot;, and later refers specifically to purchase transactions.</p>
<p>source: 《康熙字典》《字源》</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-26T11:56:06.087Z
Is the first character bone script?
udidosa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-26T12:33:11.367Z
It's noted below the word, 《说文》小篆, which is 《说文解字》小篆体, small seal script.
SLS
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-25T12:37:44.433Z
2017-08-25T12:56:49.720Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
SLS
<p>Your post has typo, </p>

<p>Should be like:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>买/買(buy) 卖/ 賣 (sell)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The former one is the simplified Chinese, the later one is traditional Chinese, the 1st pair simply means "buy" or "purchase", the 2nd pair means "sell"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-25T13:32:27.547Z
2017-08-25T13:32:27.547Z
LONG
<p>The characters for 'buy' and 'sell',  seem to have a subtle difference in the character.</p>

<ul>
<li>買/买 (buy)</li>
<li>賣/卖 (sell)</li>
</ul>

<p>I want to know, what's the significance of the radial  on top of the sell? How does adding that change 'buy' into 'sell'?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-28T23:33:14.317Z
check 字源字形 of  zdic.net
Daniel Yang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-25T11:48:52.540Z
The two does **not** pronounce the same. 买(mǎi) and 卖(mài) are different.
iBug
<characters><difference><glyph-origin>
Character difference between 'buy' and 'sell'
# Character difference between 'buy' and 'sell'

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-08-25)

The characters for 'buy' and 'sell', seem to have a subtle difference in the character.

* 買/买 (buy)
* 賣/卖 (sell)

I want to know, what's the significance of the radial on top of the sell? How does adding that change 'buy' into 'sell'?

**Tags:** characters, difference, glyph-origin

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: The two does **not** pronounce the same. 买(mǎi) and 卖(mài) are different.  
> **username_1**: check 字源字形 of  zdic.net  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-08-25. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

The original form of the top part of 賣 is 出.

《說文》

> 作。出物貨也。从出从買。

出物貨也：  
出：拿出 take out  
物：物品 goods  
貨：交易 to trade

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/daxJN.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/daxJN.png)

買  
《說文》

> 作，市也。

市：做買賣。to trade

「買」本指商品交易，兼有「買、賣」二義，後來專指交易中的買入。  
買 refers to the commodity trading activities, both "to buy and to sell", and later refers specifically to purchase transactions.

source: 《康熙字典》《字源》

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Is the first character bone script?  
> **username_3**: It's noted below the word, 《说文》小篆, which is 《说文解字》小篆体, small seal script.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-08-25. Score: -2

Your post has typo,

Should be like:

> 买/買(buy) 卖/ 賣 (sell)

The former one is the simplified Chinese, the later one is traditional Chinese, the 1st pair simply means "buy" or "purchase", the 2nd pair means "sell"


---

