自费 (zì fèi) — at one's own expense; self-funded

Definition

A verb meaning 'at one's own expense / self-funded', contrasted with 公费 (state-funded). Often used as an adverbial before the verb, e.g. 自费留学.

verb

at one's own expenseself-funded

自费。
Tā zì fèi qù měi guó liú xué.
He went to study in the United States at his own expense.
自费。
Zhè xiē fèi yòng dōu shì tā zì fèi chéng dān de.
She bore all these expenses out of her own pocket.
自费。
Wǒ men zì fèi mǎi le zhè tái shè bèi.
We bought this equipment at our own expense.

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.

自 ('own') and 费 ('expense') combine to mean paying with one's own expense.

Characters in this word

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

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.

弗貝費

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.

Appears in