协作
xié zuò · HSK 7
cooperation
🤝 协作 = 协 (join forces) + 作 (work) = working together
协 carries the sense of joining/assisting (the 十 plus three 力 strokes hint at many forces combined), and 作 means to do or make. Together: doing work jointly, i.e. cooperation. Pair it with 合作, which shares the same 作.
作 — person radical 亻 + 乍
作 combines the person radical 亻 with 乍, which originally depicted a sudden action or making something. The character means 'to do, make, or create,' with 亻 indicating human activity and 乍 supplying the sound. Over time it broadened to cover works, deeds, and acting as something.