手分け
てわけ · tewake · JLPT N1 · noun
labor
手分け = 手 (hand) + 分け (divide): hands dividing up the work between people
手 (te) is hand, and in compounds it often means a person doing the work. So 手分け is hands splitting a task among a group. Use it when members divide a job between them.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.
分 — knife 刀 + eight 八 (split apart)
分 originally depicted a knife (刀) cutting something into two parts, shown by 八 above (which itself meant 'divide'). The core sense is 'to divide' or 'split', from which extended meanings like 'portion', 'minute', and 'part' developed. Pronounced fèn, it carries the sense of an allotted share.