分房 (fēn fáng) — housing allotment system (by an employer or government)

Definition

Refers specifically to the work-unit housing allotment system in pre-reform China, where employers (单位) assigned apartments to employees. It is an institutional policy, not the act of dividing up rooms.

noun
housing allotment system (by an employer or government)

Examples

  • 分房。
    Yǐ qián hěn duō dān wèi dōu yǒu fēn fáng zhì dù.
    Many work units used to have a housing allotment system.
  • 分房。
    fēn fáng Zhèng cè zài jiǔ shí nián dài fā shēng le biàn huà.
    The housing allocation policy changed in the 1990s.
  • 分房。
    Tā men tōng guò fēn fáng dé dào le yí tào fáng zi.
    They got an apartment through the housing allotment system.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

分fēnallot
房fángrooms; housing

“分” means allot and “房” means rooms or housing, together referring to allotting rooms.

Characters in this word

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

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Open 分 →

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
戶戶hùdoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng房fáng
Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

Open 房 →

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