演员
yǎnyuán · HSK 3
actor
🎭 演 = perform + 员 = member; a 'performance member' is an actor
演 (yǎn) means to perform or act, and 员 (yuán) marks a person who fills a role (also in 服务员 waiter, 职员 staff). So 演员 literally reads as 'performance staff member' — someone whose job is acting.
演 — water 氵 + 寅 (yín, phonetic)
演 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the water radical 氵 gives the meaning, originally referring to water flowing far and spreading out, while 寅 supplies the sound. From 'water extending' it broadened to 'develop, elaborate, perform,' as in unfolding a story or acting out a play.
员 — mouth 口 + shell/money 贝 (貝)
Originally a pictograph of a round bronze tripod vessel, with 口 depicting its round opening and 鼎 (later simplified to 貝/贝) showing the vessel itself. The original sense was 'round,' now written 圓/圆. It was borrowed to mean 'member' or 'person in a role,' which became its main modern meaning.