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搬运工 (bān yùn gōng) — porter; docker; laborer who moves heavy goods

Definition

noun
porterdockerlaborer who moves heavy goods
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 搬运工。
    Huǒ chē zhàn yǒu hěn duō bān yùn gōng bāng lǚ kè bān xíng li.
    There are many porters at the train station helping passengers with luggage.
  • 搬运工。
    Mǎ tou shàng de bān yùn gōng zhèng zài bǎ huò wù zhuāng dào chuán shàng.
    The dockers at the wharf are loading the cargo onto the ship.
  • 搬运工。
    Bān jiā gōng sī de bān yùn gōng dòng zuò hěn shú liàn.
    The movers from the moving company are very skillful.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

搬运transport
搬bānmove运yùntransport
联合Coordinate
工gōngworker

搬运 denotes moving goods, and 工 denotes a worker, together meaning a porter.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
般
般bān搬bān
Same sound today

The left side 扌 is a hand, showing a hand-related action, while 般 gives the sound bān.

Open 搬 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 運; 运 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòmotion
Sound part声符shēngfú
軍
軍jūn運yùn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 運 combines 辵, meaning motion, with 軍 to give the sound; the simplified 运 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 运 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →
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