員
부수: 口
획수: 10획
員 has the meanings unit/individual, member of an association and staff member.
員 = 口 + 貝
X = semantic + semantic (distortion)
• 貝 is a distortion of 鼎 which depicts a cauldron.
• 口 was originally oval-shaped and was used to make the round shape of the cauldron opening more salient. This emphasised the meaning ’round’.
Evolution:
員 = round ➔ perimeter
員 = round ➔ borrowed use ➔ unit/individual ➔ member of an association ➔ staff member
Mnemonic
Imagine a team of people attending a meeting at a round 員 table.
While this is an incorrect breakdown, you could see 員 as mouth 口 + money 貝. Imagine a group of committee members meeting together at around 員 a table to discuss 口 financial 貝 issues.
Vocab
| 定員 | 정원 | admission capacity |
| 滿員 | 만원 | full capacity |
| 動員 | 동원 | mobilisation of forces |
| 會員 | 회원 | member of a society |
| 委員 | 위원 | member of a committee |
| 任員 | 임원 | board member |
| 黨員 | 당원 | party member |
| 構成員 | 구성원 | member of a group |
| 陪審員 | 배심원 | member of the jury |
| 國會議員 | 국회의원 | member of the National Assembly |
| 職員 | 직원 | employee; staff member |
| 社員 | 사원 | employee; staff member |
| 全員 | 전원 | the entire staff |
| 人員 | 인원 | personnel; number of personnel |
| 醫員 | 의원 | medical staff |
| 船員 | 선원 | sailor |
| 店員 | 점원 | shop assistant |
| 要員 | 요원 | personnel; workforce |
| 乘務員 | 승무원 | crew member; flight attendant |
| 從業員 | 종업원 | service employee |
| 公務員 | 공무원 | public servant |
| 硏究員 | 연구원 | researcher |
Other resources
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Chinese Boost
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JLearn.net
Sakura
The Kanji Map
Sentence Search
Immersion Kit
Vietnamese
Bibliography
Affiliate links help support uK.
— Daum 사전, [s.v. 員].
— Grant, B.K. (1982). A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja, [s.v. 732]. Seoul: Hollym.
— Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters, [s.v. 員, 口, 貝].
— Seely, C., Henshall, K.G., & Fan, J. (2016). The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji: Remembering and Understanding the 2,136 Standard Japanese Characters, [s.v. 248]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.