動

Traditionally explained as a phono-semantic compound:

力 (력, “strength”) - supplies the meaning (physical effort);

重 (중, “heavy”) - supplies the sound.

This gives the image of “lifting something heavy with force” - “to move.”

Shuowen Jiezi (説文解字 shuōwén jiězì) and later scholars debated whether 動 should instead be considered an ideogrammic compound.

Historical forms:

In bronze inscriptions (金文 jinwen), 動 itself doesn’t appear.

Instead, the character 童 (아이 동) seems to have been used in its place.

童 originally referred to a male servant/slave, suggesting the idea of someone moving busily here and there to run errands.

Some scholars believe the structure evolved like this:

童 → (童 + 力) → simplified into (重 + 力) → 動

Both 童 and 重 likely took their sound from 東 (동녘 동), meaning the “phono-semantic” explanation still holds overall.

It has deep historical roots tied to 童 and the notion of a servant busily in motion, but today it firmly means “movement” and appears in countless compounds like 運動 (운동, “exercise”) and 행동 (行動, “action”).

It also carries the nuance of labor or work, as seen in compounds like 勞動 (노동, “labor, work”).