交通機関
こうつうきかん · koutsuukikan · JLPT N2 · noun
transportation facilities
🚆🚌 交通 (traffic) + 機関 (engine) = the engines of traffic: trains, buses, planes
機関 can mean engine or institution. Together they name the systems that carry people and goods: rail, road, sea, and air.
交 — top 亠 + 父-like crossed legs
Originally a pictograph of a person standing with legs crossed, showing the idea of crossing or intersecting. From this concrete image, the meaning extended to abstract senses like 'exchange,' 'interact,' and 'hand over.' Modern uses such as 交流 (exchange) and 交通 (traffic) all trace back to this core notion of crossing.
通 — 辵 (辶) walk + 甬 yǒng (phonetic)
通 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 辶 (chuò) component means 'walk' or 'movement', giving the meaning of going through or passing. 甬 (yǒng), originally depicting a hanging bell or a path, supplies the sound. Together they convey 'to pass through, communicate, connect'.