有助于
yǒuzhùyū · HSK 7
helpful to
🤝 有 have + 助 help + 于 toward = to have help toward, i.e. helpful to
三字拆开: 有 (have/exist) + 助 (help/assist) + 于 (toward/to). Together they read literally as to have help directed toward something, which lands on the meaning conducive to or helpful to. The 于 marks the target the help points at.
有 — hand 𠂇 + moon/meat 月
Originally depicted a hand holding a piece of meat (月 here is the 'meat' radical, not moon), expressing the idea of possessing something. Over time the meaning broadened from 'to hold/possess' to the general sense of 'to have' or 'there is/exists'.
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.