月工资 (yuè gōng zī) — monthly salary; monthly pay

Definition

noun
monthly salarymonthly pay

Examples

  • 月工资。
    Zhè ge yuè de yuè gōng zī hái méi fā.
    This month's salary hasn't been paid yet.
  • 月工资。
    Tā de yuè gōng zī bǐ qù nián zhǎng le bù shǎo.
    His monthly pay has increased quite a bit compared to last year.
  • 月工资。
    Gōng sī guī dìng měi yuè shí wǔ hào fā yuè gōng zī.
    The company policy is to pay monthly salaries on the 15th of each month.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

月yuèmonth
工资wages
工gōngwork资zīpay
偏正Modifier + head

月 says monthly, while 工 (labor) and 资 (pay) combine to mean wages.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

月 was drawn as a crescent moon, with the curved outline showing the moon’s shape.

Open 月 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 資; 资 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell-money
Sound part声符shēngfú
次
次cì資zī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 資 puts 次 above 貝, a shell-money sign, to write property or resource; 次 supplies the sound. The simplified 资 is a shorthand, so do not treat its parts as historical.

Open 资 →

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