价格
jiàgé · HSK 3
price
💰🏷️ 价格 = price + standard/grid; the agreed value set by a measure
价 means price or value (the merchant 亻 setting worth). 格 means standard, pattern, or grid — a fixed framework. Together: the standardized value assigned to goods, i.e. the price.
价 — person radical 亻 + 介 (jiè)
价 is the simplified form of 價. The traditional form combines 亻 (person) with 賈 (merchant), pointing to the act of pricing goods. In the simplified version, 賈 was replaced by the phonetic 介, which hints at the 'jià' reading while keeping the 'person' radical for the trading sense.
格 — wood 木 + 各 (each, phonetic)
格 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 木 (wood) gives the meaning, originally referring to a wooden frame, lattice, or crossbar, while 各 supplies the sound. From 'frame/grid' the meaning extended to 'pattern, standard, style' and the modern senses of 'square (in a grid)' and 'character/disposition'.