责任人 (zé rèn rén) — person responsible; responsible person

Definition

责任人 is the person officially assigned to be accountable for a task, incident, or outcome — the one who must answer if something goes wrong, not a general 'responsible person' in a casual sense.

noun
person responsibleresponsible person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 责任人。
    Zhè cì shì gù de zé rèn rén bì xū chéng dān fǎ lǜ zé rèn.
    The person responsible for this accident must bear legal liability.
  • 责任人。
    Xiàng mù jīng lǐ shì gāi xiàng mù dì zé rèn rén.
    The project manager is the person responsible for this project.
  • 责任人。
    Měi gè bù mén dōu yào zhǐ dìng yí wèi zé rèn rén.
    Each department must designate one responsible person.

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.

责任responsibility
责zéduty任rènresponsibility
联合Side by side
人rénperson

责任人 combines 责任 'responsibility' and 人 'person' to mean the person responsible.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 責; 责 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry; money
Sound part声符shēngfú
朿
朿cì責zé
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 責 pairs 貝, cowry/money, with 朿 as the sound part; the simplified 责 is a later shorthand.

Open 责 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
壬
壬rén任rèn
Same sound today

任 pairs 亻, a person, with 壬, which may picture a shoulder pole turned sideways.

Open 任 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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