身份
shēnfèn · HSK 4
station
🪪 身份 = body (身) + portion/share (份); your assigned role or status
身 means body or person; 份 means a portion or share. Together: the share or role assigned to a person — their identity, status, or station. Same 份 as in 部份 (part) and 身份证 (ID card).
身 — pictograph of a pregnant body
身 is a pictograph originally depicting a person with a swollen belly, representing a pregnant woman in profile. Over time the meaning broadened from 'pregnancy' or 'torso' to refer to the body in general, and by extension oneself or one's person.
份 — person 亻+ divide 分
份 combines the person radical 亻with 分 (fēn, 'divide'), which provides both meaning and sound. Originally a variant used for a person's share or portion, it came to mean a 'part,' 'share,' or 'copy' (as of a document), and now serves as a measure word for portions and copies.