Today’s #kanji is #役, which is listed under its semantic element of #ぎょうにんべん（彳） which has the meaning of “going.” Its phonetic element is 殳 though 役 and 殳 do not share a sound in Japanese. 殳 is a name of a weapon. So can you guess what 役 means then?
Meaning: work, task, war, etc.
Reading: ヤク、エキ
役者（ヤクシャ）: n. an actor, people of the stage
役所（ヤクショ）: n. a public office, a government office
役人（ヤクニン）: n. a government official, a public servant
助役（ジョヤク）: n. an assistant official, a headman’s assistant
配役（ハイヤク）: n. the cast (of a play), casting
役夫（エキフ）: n. a labourer
課役（カエキ）: n. allocation of work, an allocated job
苦役（クエキ）: n. toil, labour; hard labor
現役（ゲンエキ）: exp. (be on) active service
父は80歳だが、まだ現役です。
My father is eighty but he’s still working.
弟は現役で大学に合格しました。
My brother passed a university entrance examination during his last year of high school.
使役（シエキ）: n. work, labour; 【grammar】 causative
- ぎょうにんべん
