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动员 (dòng yuán) — to mobilize (people or resources)

Definition

动员 focuses on rallying people to act for a cause (募捐、志愿活动). Compared with 发动 (launch/initiate a campaign or machine) and 调动 (redeploy personnel or bring out a quality), 动员 specifically means to mobilize people.

verb
to mobilize (people or resources)
Measure word · 次

Examples

  • 动员。
    Xué xiào dòng yuán xué shēng cān jiā zhì yuàn zhě huó dòng.
    The school mobilized students to participate in volunteer activities.
  • 动员。
    Gōng sī dòng yuán quán tǐ yuán gōng wèi zāi qū juān kuǎn.
    The company mobilized all employees to donate for the disaster area.
  • 动员。
    Zhèng fǔ jìn xíng le yí cì dà guī mó dòng yuán.
    The government carried out a large-scale mobilization.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

动dòngactivate
员yuánpeople

动 (activate) and 员 (people) mean activating people for a task.

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 動; 动 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
重
重zhòng動dòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 動 uses 力 (strength) and 重 as a sound part; 重 refers to a heavy bag ready to be moved by a human. This note is about 動, not 动.

Open 动 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Management

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