放假
fàngjià · HSK 1
have a day off
🏖️ 放 (release) + 假 (leave/holiday) = release-on-leave → vacation
放 means to release or let go; 假 here means leave or holiday (same char as 'false', but in this compound it's the 'time off' sense). Together: be released onto leave — take a vacation.
放 — 方 (square/phonetic) + 攵 (rap/strike radical)
放 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 方 supplies the sound and 攵 (a hand holding a stick) supplies the meaning of striking or driving away. The original sense was to banish or drive out, which broadened over time to 'release', 'let go', and 'put down'.
假 — person radical 亻 + 叚 (borrow)
假 combines the person radical 亻 with 叚, which originally meant 'to borrow' and provides the sound. The core idea is a person borrowing something, which extended to 'borrowed,' 'not real,' or 'fake.' From there it also developed the meaning 'leave/vacation' (time borrowed away from work).