员 (yuán) — (suffix) person; employee; member
Definition
员 (yuán) is a suffix meaning 'member' or 'employee' — it only appears attached to another word (e.g. 员工, 会员), never alone. Use 成员 for group members and 会员 for club/organization members.
suffix
personemployeemember
Examples
- 。Tā shì zhè jiā gōng sī de yuán gōng.He is an employee of this company.
- 。Wǒ men bù mén yǒu wǔ míng yuán gōng.Our department has five employees.
- 。Gōng sī de xīn yuán gōng dōu hěn nǔ lì.The new employees at the company are all hardworking.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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.
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.
Appears in
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