便宜
piányí · HSK 2
cheap
💰 便 = convenient + 宜 = suitable; convenient + suitable price = cheap
便 (convenient/handy) plus 宜 (suitable/appropriate) literally means handy-and-suitable, which extends to a good deal or low price. Note the reading shifts: 便 is normally biàn, but here it's pián.
便 — person 亻 + change 更
A semantic compound: 亻(person) beside 更 (to change/replace). The original sense was a person making things easier or more convenient by adjusting them. From 'convenient' it extended to 'then/thereupon' (biàn) and to bodily 'discharge' (as in 大便).
pián yi · HSK 2
cheap
💰 便 = convenient + 宜 = suitable; convenient + suitable price = cheap
便 (biàn/pián) means convenient, 宜 means appropriate or suitable. A price that is both convenient and suitable on the wallet is cheap. Note the tone shift: 便 reads as pián here, not biàn.
便 — person 亻 + change 更
A semantic compound: 亻(person) beside 更 (to change/replace). The original sense was a person making things easier or more convenient by adjusting them. From 'convenient' it extended to 'then/thereupon' (biàn) and to bodily 'discharge' (as in 大便).