p8nda
p8nda BETA
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铺

鋪
pù / pū
noun #4,969

Meanings

  1. 1 shop; store
  2. 2 plank bed; berth; bunk

Examples

HSK 2
街上有很多小铺子。
Jiē shàng yǒu hěnduō xiǎo pùzi.
There are many small shops on the street.
HSK 2
这家店铺开了三十年了。
Zhè jiā diànpù kāi le sānshí nián le.
This shop has been open for thirty years.
HSK 3
我买了一张上铺的火车票。
Wǒ mǎi le yī zhāng shàngpù de huǒchēpiào.
I bought a ticket for an upper berth on the train.

Tips

usage
pu covers two noun senses, both involving something flat and laid out. (1) Shop / store - 店铺, 商铺, 铺子, 当铺 (pawnshop), 杂货铺 (general store). (2) A bunk or berth (originally a plank bed): 上铺 / 下铺 upper / lower berth on a train sleeper, 卧铺 sleeper berth, 床铺 bed.
history
In old place names 铺 also marked a courier post-station - relay stations along the imperial road network where horses and messengers swapped over. That is why so many small Chinese settlements end in 铺: e.g. 五里铺 (Five-Li Station), 十里铺 (Ten-Li Station).
mistakes
If the word is about laying / paving / spreading something across a surface, read pu (see the pu entry). pu is the noun: the counter, the shop itself, the bunk you sleep on.

Components

radical
钅 jīn
metal; gold (left radical form)
Left metal radical (Kangxi #167 金 in its 5-stroke contracted form). The 'pave, spread out' sense likely comes from spreading metal sheets or paving stones; the 'shop' sense (the alt pu reading) extended from the metal-fitted counter laid out with goods. Same radical groups 钱, 银, 铁, 锅.
phonetic
甫 fǔ
just; only just; man's name suffix
Right phonetic 甫 - supplies the sound, drifting to pu / pu through historical labial shift. The same phonetic anchors 捕 (catch), 哺 (feed), 浦 (riverbank), 葡 (grape) - recognising 甫 unlocks all of them as a sound family.

Stroke Order

铺 pù