工薪 (gōng xīn) — wages; salary

Definition

工薪 refers to the wages or salary a working person earns — typically used in fixed phrases like 工薪阶层 ('salaried class') and 工薪收入 ('salary income'). It emphasizes regular paycheck earners, not business income.

noun
wagessalary
Easily confused

Examples

  • 工薪。
    Tā de gōng xīn shōu rù zú gòu yǎng huó yì jiā rén.
    His salary income is enough to support a family.
  • 。
    Hěn duō gōng xīn jiē céng de rén dōu zài wèi fáng dài fā chóu.
    Many salaried workers are worried about their mortgage.
  • 工薪。
    Gōng sī měi yuè àn shí fā fàng gōng xīn.
    The company pays wages on time every month.

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.

工gōngwork
薪xīnpay

工 points to labor and 薪 to pay, together naming the money earned from work.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
新
新xīn薪xīn
Same sound today

In 薪, the top 艹 (plants, written 艸) marks plant material, and 新 (xīn) gives the sound.

Open 薪 →

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