代表
dàibiǎo · HSK 3
representative
🧑💼 代表 = 代 (substitute) + 表 (show) — one who shows up for others
代 means to substitute or stand in for, and 表 means to express or display. A 代表 is someone who stands in and speaks on behalf of a group — a delegate or representative.
代 — person radical 亻 + 弋 (stake/dart, phonetic)
代 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 亻 (person) gives the meaning and 弋 supplies the sound. The original sense was one person taking the place of another, which broadened to 'substitute,' 'replace,' and then 'generation' or 'era' — successive groups of people replacing the previous.
表 — fur 毛 on top + garment 衣 below
Originally depicted an outer fur garment, with 毛 (fur) above 衣 (clothing), showing the hairy outside of a coat. From 'outer garment' it extended to mean 'outside, surface,' then 'to show, express, display,' and later 'table, chart' as something laid out on the surface.