零花 (líng huā) — to spend on incidental or small expenses | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

零花 is a verb meaning to spend money on small, incidental things, and it also appears in the common collocation 零花钱 ('pocket money'). It is more colloquial than the general verb 花费.

verb

to spend on incidental or small expenses

Examples

零花。
Zhè xiē qián nǐ liú zhe líng huā ba.
Keep this money for your incidental expenses.
零花。
Tā měi gè yuè dōu líng huā diào bù shǎo qián.
He spends quite a bit on incidentals every month.
。
Mā ma gěi wǒ de líng huā qián wǒ dōu cún qǐ lái le.
I saved all the pocket money my mom gave me.

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.

零língsmall/odd

“零” suggests small, odd sums and “花” means to spend; together they describe incidental spending.

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.

雨令零

Meaning part形符xíngfú

雨雨yǔrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

令

令lìng零líng

Same sound today

In 零, the 雨 part depicts thick raindrops falling from the sky; the 令 part gives the sound.

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

艹化花

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

化

Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

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