赎金 (shú jīn) — ransom money | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

ransom money

赎金。
Huài rén yāo qiú yì bǎi wàn shú jīn.
The bad guys demand one million as ransom money.
赎金。
Jiā rén bǎ shú jīn jiāo gěi le jǐng chá.
The family handed the ransom money to the police.
赎金。
Tā men shōu dào shú jīn hòu jiù bǎ rén fàng le.
After they received the ransom money, they released the person.

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.

赎 means to ransom and 金 means money, so it is the money paid to ransom someone.

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 贖; 赎 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

𧶠

𧶠𧶠贖shú

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 贖 pairs 貝 (shell) with the sound part 𧶠; the simplified 赎 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.

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