赔
péi · HSK 5
to suffer a financial loss
💸 贝 (shell/money) + 咅 (phonetic péi) — money side means pay out / compensate
贝 is the shell radical, ancient currency, marking money-related verbs. 咅 gives the péi sound. So 赔 = money + péi-sound = pay compensation, indemnify, take a loss. Pairs with 偿 (cháng) in 赔偿 to compensate.
赔 — shell radical 贝 + 㫊 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The shell radical 贝 signals money or wealth, since cowrie shells were ancient currency, while 㫊 (péi) suggests the sound. Originally meant to compensate or pay back a loss, and still carries the core sense of indemnifying or losing money.