义工 (yì gōng) — volunteer worker; volunteer work

Definition

义工 emphasizes the work or activity itself rather than the person. 志愿者 focuses on the person who volunteers.

noun

volunteer workervolunteer work

Measure word · 个

义工，。
Wǒ zài xué xiào zuò yì gōng, bāng lǎo shī zhěng lǐ tú shū.
I do volunteer work at school, helping the teacher organize books.
义工，。
Shè qū lǐ yǒu hěn duō yì gōng, tā men yì qǐ dǎ sǎo jiē dào.
There are many volunteers in the community; they clean the streets together.
义工，。
Zhè fèn yì gōng gōng zuò suī rán xīn kǔ, dàn hěn yǒu yì yì.
Although this volunteer work is hard, it is very meaningful.

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.

义yìvoluntary

工gōngwork/worker

义 means voluntary and 工 means work, so it is a person doing work without pay.

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 義; 义 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

我

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 義 has 我 giving the sound and 羊 meaning good or auspicious; the simplified 义 is a later abbreviation.

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.

Appears in