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赡养费 (shàn yǎng fèi) — alimony; payment for support of one's parents

Definition

Money paid to support one's parents (or former spouse after divorce). Covers both family support payments and court-ordered alimony in legal contexts.

noun
alimonypayment for support of one's parents

Examples

  • 赡养费。
    Tā měi gè yuè gěi fù mǔ jì shàn yǎng fèi.
    He sends support money to his parents every month.
  • 赡养费。
    Fǎ yuàn pàn jué tā zhī fù shàn yǎng fèi zhí dào lǎo rén qù shì.
    The court ordered him to pay support until the elderly pass away.
  • ，赡养费。
    Lí hūn shí, shuāng fāng jiù shàn yǎng fèi wèn tí dá chéng le xié yì.
    During the divorce, both parties reached an agreement on the issue of alimony.

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.

赡养support
赡shànsupply养yǎngnourish
联合Coordinate
费fèifee

赡养 means supporting parents, and 费 is a payment, so the word denotes money for support.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Open 养 →

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 →
Appears in
Family & KinshipLaw & Justice

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