动物
dòngwù · HSK 2
animal
🐾 动 = move + 物 = thing; literally moving-things = animals
动 (dòng) means move or motion; 物 (wù) means thing or object. Together 动物 names the category of moving things — animals. Contrast with 植物 (zhíwù, plants), the planted/standing things.
动 — force 力 + heavy/重 (simplified from 動)
The traditional form 動 combines 重 (heavy) as the phonetic with 力 (force/strength) as the semantic, suggesting the effort needed to move something heavy. The simplified form 动 replaces 重 with 云, keeping 力 to convey action and motion.