乘员 (chéng yuán) — crew member; person on board a vehicle (aircraft, ship, etc.)

Definition

noun
crew memberperson on board a vehicle (aircraft, ship, etc.)
Measure word · 名
Easily confused

Examples

  • 乘员。
    Fēi jī shàng de chéng yuán dōu hěn zhuān yè.
    The crew on the plane are all professional.
  • 乘员。
    Zhè sōu chuán kě yǐ zǎi wǔ shí míng chéng yuán.
    This ship can carry fifty crew members.
  • 乘员。
    Suǒ yǒu chéng yuán dōu bì xū cān jiā ān quán péi xùn.
    All crew members must attend safety training.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

乘chéngride
员yuánperson

乘员 names a person on a vehicle; 乘 gives the riding idea and 员 gives the person idea.

Characters in this word

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

乘 was drawn as a person climbing a tree, with the feet visible.

Open 乘 →

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 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鼎鼎dǐngding
Sound part声符shēngfú
〇
〇líng員yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Open 员 →

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