遣散费 (qiǎn sàn fèi) — severance pay

Definition

noun

severance pay

，遣散费。
Zhè cì cái yuán, měi gè yuán gōng dōu ná dào le qiǎn sàn fèi.
This round of layoffs, every employee received severance pay.
遣散费。
Gōng sī gěi de qiǎn sàn fèi bú gòu tā shēng huó sān gè yuè.
The severance pay the company gave isn't enough for him to live for three months.
遣散费。
Hé tong shàng xiě míng le qiǎn sàn fèi de shù é.
The contract specifies the amount of severance pay.

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.

遣散dismiss

遣qiǎnsend away散sànscatter

联合Side by side

遣 and 散 convey sending away, while 费 is a fee, so this names the fee paid when someone is sent away.

Characters in this word

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

The old form showed two hands directing an army, meaning to send or dispatch; the modern 遣 adds a walking part.

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

散 combines 林 (trees or forest) and 攴 (to knock or tap), originally showing knocking to clear vegetation, later extended to breaking up or dispersing.

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.