党费
dǎng​fèi

party dues

党 dǎng political party Simplified

Original meaning: dark

Simplified form of 黨. Phonosemantic compound. 黑 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "dark". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尚
尚 Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
儿
儿 Simplified component
r, ér child

Shorthand for the 黑 component in the traditional character 黨.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

傥谠

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

费 fèi expenses Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 弗 represents the sound. Simplified form of 費.

Components

弗
弗 Sound component
fú not
贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

镄

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

黨 dǎng political party Traditional

Original meaning: dark

Phonosemantic compound. 黑 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "dark". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尚
尚 Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
黑
黑 Meaning component
hēi black
Change in meaning
黑 hints at the original meaning of 黨, "dark", which is no longer the most common meaning of 黨 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

儻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttangXtˤaŋʔ 500 families; relatives

說文解字

《說文》：“黨，不鮮也。从黑，尚聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

費 fèi expenses Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 弗 represents the sound.

Components

弗
弗 Sound component
fú not
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartphj+jHpʰ[u]t-s squander

說文解字

《說文》：“費，散財用也。从貝，弗聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)