费尔 (Fèi'ěr): Phil / Fer / Fair (foreign-name…

Meanings

1 Phil / Fer / Fair (foreign-name transliteration)
2 common 2-character phonetic rendering of a Western given name or surname

Characters

费

fèi

expense / a Chinese surname (phonetic 'fe')

尔

ěr

thou / you (literary; phonetic '-r')

Examples

费尔是我们的新邻居。

Fèi'ěr shì wǒmen de xīn línjū.

Phil is our new neighbor.

费尔教练很严格。

Fèi'ěr jiàoliàn hěn yángé.

Coach Phil is very strict.

Tips

usage

A short transliteration that can stand for English 'Phil', 'Fer-' (as in Fernandes/Ferguson), or German 'Fehr'. 费 (fèi) renders the 'f' onset, 尔 (ěr) is the universal Chinese 'r/-r' ending used in transliterations like 哈利 (Harry) and 彼得 (Peter). When 费尔 prefixes more characters (费尔南德斯 'Fernandes', 费尔普斯 'Phelps'), it becomes the start of a longer name.

memory

Each character has a literal sense — 费 'expense / Fei (surname)' + 尔 'you / thou (literary)' — but here both are pure phonetics.