酬劳 (chóu láo) — (verb) to reward or compensate someone for thei…

Definition

verb

to reward or compensate someone for their services

noun

remunerationpayment for work done

酬劳。
Gōng sī huì àn zhào gòng xiàn dà xiǎo lái chóu láo yuán gōng.
The company will reward employees according to the size of their contributions.
酬劳。
Tā zuò zhè fèn gōng zuò bú shì wèi le jīn qián shàng de chóu láo.
He does this job not for monetary reward.
酬劳。
Zhè cì rèn wu de chóu láo fēi cháng fēng hòu.
The remuneration for this mission is very generous.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

酬 means to reward and 劳 means labor, so the word names rewarding someone for their work.

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.

酉州酬

Meaning part形符xíngfú

酉酉yǒuliquor vessel; liquor

Sound part声符shēngfú

州

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 酉 part shows a liquor vessel, matching meanings about offering or drinking liquor. The 州 part gives the sound.

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 勞; 劳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

𬡤

𬡤𬡤勞láo

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

The traditional form 勞 uses 力 for the meaning and 𬡤 for the sound; the simplified 劳 is a later shortened shape.

Appears in