话费
huà fèi · HSK 7
call charge
📞💰 话 (talk) + 费 (fee) = talk-fee = the charge for phone calls
话 huà means speech or talk (as in 说话 to speak); 费 fèi means fee or expense (as in 学费 tuition). Together the talk-fee is the money on your phone account that pays for calls and data.
话 — speech radical 讠 (言) + tongue 舌
话 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 讠 (simplified from 言, 'speech') gives the meaning, signaling something said, while 舌 ('tongue') hints at the sound and reinforces the speaking sense. The traditional form 話 makes the 言 element explicit; today 话 means 'speech, talk, words.'
费 — 弓 bow + 弗 (phonetic 'fú/fèi')
费 is a phono-semantic compound. The bottom 贝 (cowrie shell, ancient money) gives the meaning 'cost/expense,' while 弗 on top supplies the sound. Originally it referred to spending money or wasting resources, and today it means 'fee,' 'expense,' or 'to consume.'