Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

役: duty, war

Also: campaign, drafted labor, office, service, role

JLPT N37 strokesGrade 3Your ink: 白 Not met

彳 carries the meaning · 殳 is drawn in

7 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ヤクyaku · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 役やくrole
  • 役者やくしゃactor, actress
  • 役割やくわりrole, duties
  • 役所やくしょpublic office
  • 役人やくにんgovernment official
  • 役に立つやくにたつuseful
  • 役立つやくだつuseful

エキeki · on'yomi

  • 使役しえきenslavement
  • 懲役ちょうえきimprisonment with hard labor

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Ideogrammic compound (會意)彳 movement; action (meaning) + 殳 a weapon, like a spear (meaning)

The character originally depicted guarding a border with a weapon in hand, and by extension, it came to represent the idea of performing a duty or task.

Source: Wiktionary, 役 (rev. 92509118), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Step radical + weapon (殳) = imagine a soldier marching down a road with their weapon, performing their necessary duty or role.”
From the 彳 step story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
彳

Also built on step (彳)

All 19
殳

Also built on lance shaft (殳)

All 15

Also read ヤク

8 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read エキ

6 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
役 duty · 彳
vs投 throw · 扌
役 has 彳 where 投 has 扌.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · yì

Same form: 役 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
役 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
役 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin yì 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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