币 bì currency
currency; coins; legal tender
怎么记住“币”: ㇒ falling stroke + 巾 towel = currency. At the exchange office the clerk draws a falling stroke through the old rate, wipes the counter with a towel and counts out the new currency.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
originally 敝 + 巾
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
币 = ㇒ falling stroke + 巾 towel
- ㇒ falling stroke shape only
- 巾 towel meaning
At the exchange office the clerk draws a falling stroke through the old rate, wipes the counter with a towel and counts out the new currency.
How it came to be
Cloth gives the meaning, as the word first meant silk given as a gift; one stroke now stands for the old sound part.
用法
- 币 never stands alone. It's the bound morpheme for "currency" that always attaches to a modifier: 人民币 (rénmínbì) RMB, 货币 (huòbì) currency in general, 外币 (wàibì) foreign currency, 硬币/纸币 (yìngbì/zhǐbì) coin/banknote.
- 你要硬币还是纸币？ (nǐ yào yìngbì háishi zhǐbì) coins or banknotes? Say 硬币 rather than 币 on its own.
- On its own you'd say 钱 (qián) for "money"; 币 is the formal/technical suffix used in economic and financial contexts.