Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement

務: task, duties

JLPT N311 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met

攵 and 力 carry the meaning · 矛 gives the sound

11 strokes
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Two readings, and the words that use each

ムmu · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 義務ぎむduty, obligation
  • 事務じむbusiness, office work
  • 任務にんむduty, mission, task
  • 職務しょくむprofessional duties
  • 責務せきむduty, obligation, responsibility
  • 専務せんむmanaging director
  • 外務省がいむしょうDepartment of Foreign Affairs
  • 法務省ほうむしょうMinistry of Justice
  • 公務員こうむいんcivil servant
  • 勤務するきんむするwork for

つとめるtsutomeru · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 務めるつとめるserve, exert oneself [v.t.]
  • 務まるつとまるbe fit for, function properly [v.i.]

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)敄 (sound) + 力 strength (meaning)

Source: Wiktionary, 務 (rev. 92968515), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Flex your arm and feel the power! That's 力, representing the raw muscle and effort required to change the world.”
More in the 力 power story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
矛

Also built on halberd (矛)

務 takes the 矛 family's reading, ム (mu).

攵

Also built on to strike (攵)

All 26
力

Also built on power (力)

All 21

務 gives its sound to

The family reading is ム (mu). Sound parts: KanjiVG.

Also read ム

8 kanji share this on'yomi
In ChineseSimplified 务 · traditional, as in Japanese · wù

Japan keeps the traditional form 務; mainland China simplifies it to 务.

Simplified
务 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
務 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin wù most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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