丧葬费 (sāng zàng fèi) — funeral expenses, burial costs

Definition

noun
funeral expensesburial costs

Examples

  • 丧葬费。
    Gōng sī gěi le tā yì bǐ sāng zàng fèi.
    The company gave him a sum of funeral expenses.
  • 丧葬费。
    sāng zàng fèi Yóu jiā shǔ zì jǐ chéng dān.
    The funeral costs are borne by the family themselves.
  • 丧葬费。
    Tā cún le yì xiē qián zuò wéi sāng zàng fèi.
    He saved some money for funeral expenses.

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.

丧葬funeral
丧sàngfuneral葬zàngburial
联合Side by side
费fèiexpense

丧葬 covers mourning and burial, and 费 names the costs, giving funeral expenses.

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 喪; 丧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
㗊㗊㗊many mouths
Sound part声符shēngfú
桑
桑sāng喪sàng
Same sound today

The traditional form 喪 originally paired 桑 (mulberry tree) with 㗊 (many mouths). The simplified 丧 is the modern form, deriving from a form that used 哭 (cry) and 亡 (die).

Open 丧 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 茻茻mǎnggrass
  • 死死sǐdead person

In 葬, 死, a dead person, is shown in 茻, grass, to picture burying the dead in grass.

Open 葬 →

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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