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赃款 (zāng kuǎn) — illicit money, dirty money (from corruption, bribery, embezzlement, etc.)

Definition

noun
illicit moneydirty money (from corruption, bribery, embezzlement, etc.)
Measure word · 笔

Examples

  • 赃款。
    Tā bèi chá chū shōu shòu dà liàng zāng kuǎn.
    He was found to have accepted a large amount of illicit money.
  • 赃款。
    Jǐng fāng zhuī huí le bèi dào de zāng kuǎn.
    The police recovered the stolen illicit money.
  • 赃款。
    Zhè xiē zāng kuǎn yǐ bèi dòng jié.
    These illicit funds have been frozen.

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.

赃zāngillicit gains
款kuǎnmoney

赃 refers to illicit gains and 款 means money, so the word means dirty money.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 贓; 赃 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèi
Sound part声符shēngfú
臧
臧zāng贓zāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 贓 uses 貝, the shell character, to show money, and 臧 to give the sound. The simplified 赃 is a shorthand; its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 赃 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
欠欠qiànlacking, desire
Sound part声符shēngfú
柰
柰nài款kuǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

款 pairs 柰, a sound hint, with 欠, a part about lacking or desire.

Open 款 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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