Chinese

Japanese

Etymology

Probably from Middle Chinese compound 畫商 ‎(hwɛH syang). Compare modern Chinese traditional 畫商 and simplified 画商 ‎(huàshāng).

Alternately, may have been coined independently in Japan as a compound of Sinitic elements 画 ‎(ga, “picture, painting”) +‎ 商 ‎(shō, “business, dealings; dealer”).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• がしょう (Heiban)^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɡa̠ɕʲo̞ː]

Noun

画商 ‎(hiragana がしょう, romaji gashō, historical hiragana ぐわしやう)

1. the business of selling pictures
2. an art dealer (specific to pictures; does not include sculpture or other media)

References

1. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3