劳务费 (láo wù fèi) — service fee; labor pay

Definition

noun
service feelabor pay

Examples

  • 劳务费。
    Gōng sī měi gè yuè dōu yào zhī fù yí dà bǐ láo wù fèi.
    The company has to pay a large service fee every month.
  • 劳务费。
    Zhè bǐ láo wù fèi bāo kuò jiā bān fèi hé jiāo tōng bǔ tiē.
    This service fee includes overtime pay and transportation subsidies.
  • 劳务费。
    Tā kào zuò zì yóu zhí yè zhuàn qǔ láo wù fèi.
    He earns service fees by doing freelance work.

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.

劳务labor service
劳láolabor务wùservice
偏正Modifier + head
费fèifee

劳 (labor) and 务 (service) make 劳务, and 费 (fee) names the payment for that service.

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 勞; 劳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lì
Sound part声符shēngfú
𬡤
𬡤𬡤勞láo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 勞 uses 力 for the meaning and 𬡤 for the sound; the simplified 劳 is a later shortened shape.

Open 劳 →

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 務; 务 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
敄
敄wù務wù
Same sound today

In the traditional form 務, 力 shows the sense of strength or effort, while 敄 gives the sound. The simplified 务 is a later shorthand.

Open 务 →

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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