薪水 (xīn shui) — salary, wage | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

薪水 is everyday spoken word for 'salary,' similar to 工资 but used more in casual talk and writing about personal pay. 薪酬 is the formal/HR term for total compensation.

noun

salarywage

Examples

，薪水。
Tā zhǎo dào le yí fèn xīn gōng zuò, xīn shui bǐ zhī qián gāo hěn duō.
He found a new job with a much higher salary than before.
薪水。
Gōng sī měi gè yuè fā liǎng cì xīn shui.
The company pays salary twice a month.
薪水。
Tā duì zì jǐ de xīn shui bú tài mǎn yì.
She is not very satisfied with her salary.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

薪xīnfirewood

The ideas of 薪 (firewood) and 水 (water) stand for living costs, hence salary.

Characters in this word

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

艹新薪

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

新

新xīn薪xīn

Same sound today

In 薪, the top 艹 (plants, written 艸) marks plant material, and 新 (xīn) gives the sound.

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Money & Currency 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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