得益于
deyìyú · HSK 7
Benefited from
🎁 得 get + 益 benefit + 于 from — got benefit from
Each character spells out the meaning directly: 得 means obtain/get, 益 means benefit/advantage, 于 means from/at. Together they read like a receipt: obtained-benefit-from, a formal way to say thanks to or owing to.
得 — 彳 (step) + 旦 (sun/day) + 寸 (hand)
Originally depicted a hand 寸 reaching for a cowrie shell 貝 (later simplified to 旦), with 彳 'step' added to show going out and obtaining something. The core meaning is 'to get' or 'obtain'. The reading děi extends this to 'must/have to' — what one is obliged to get done.
于 — two horizontal strokes 二 + vertical hook 亅
于 originated as a pictograph of breath or sound flowing outward, depicting exhalation through a passage. In oracle bone script it resembled a curved line showing motion or extension. Over time it became a grammatical preposition meaning 'at,' 'in,' or 'to,' losing its original concrete sense.