役

役 (Kangxi radical 60, 彳+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 竹人竹弓水 (HOHNE), four-corner 2724₇, composition ⿰彳殳)

• 垼 䓈

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 365, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10057
• Dae Jaweon: page 685, character 12
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 814, character 23
• Unihan data for U+5F79

Historical forms of the character 役
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): semantic 彳 (“movement; action”) + semantic 殳 (“a weapon, like a spear”). The character originally depicted guarding a border with a weapon in hand, and by extension, it came to represent the idea of performing a duty or task.

From 為 (OC *ɢʷal, “to do”) with k-extension (Schuessler, 2007).

役

1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to guard the borders
2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) soldier
3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) matter; event; incident
4. war; military campaign
5. forced labour
6. military service
7. labourer
8. servant
9. to use as a servant
10. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to attract
11. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) student; disciple
12. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) duty; responsibility
13. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) low-ranking official
14. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to arrange into rows
15. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to help; to aid
16. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to be; to act as
17. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to practise; to act with

• “役”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

1. duty, office
2. service
3. role, part

• Go-on: やく (yaku, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: えき (eki, Jōyō)
• Kun: つとめ (tsutome, 役)、えだち (edachi, 役)、いくさ (ikusa, 役)
• Nanori: え (e)、えん (en)、えんの (enno)、おうこ (ōko)、おうせ (ōse)、おおせ (ōse)、まもり (mamori)、まもる (mamoru)

From Middle Chinese 役 (MC ywek). The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

• (Tokyo) やく (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

役(やく) • (yaku) 

1. role, service, use
2. (card games, mahjong) yaku, scoring combination; a condition that scores points when met, usually in the form of a specific combination of cards or tiles.

Unlike the borrowed English term yaku, the Japanese term is not limited to Japanese games (e.g. it is also used for poker hands).

In Japanese mahjong, having one or more yaku is a win condition, so anything that can fulfil that condition is considered a yaku. This includes conditions that have nothing to do with the types of tiles that one has, such as making a riichi bet, or completing one's hand with the very last discarded tile.

役(やく) • (-yaku) 

1. playing the role of...

   涼(すず)宮(みや)ハルヒ役(やく)の平(ひら)野(の)綾(あや)さん

   Suzumiya Haruhi-yaku no Hirano Aya-san

   Aya Hirano, who voices Haruhi Suzumiya

From Middle Chinese 役 (MC ywek).

The kan'on pronunciation, so likely a later borrowing.

• (Tokyo) えき (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

役(えき) • (eki) 

1. war; battle
2. (archaic) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

役(えき) • (eki) 

1. duty; service
2. put to work, labor
3. war; battle

• (Tokyo) えだち (Nakadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

⟨edati⟩ → /edat͡ɕi/

According to Kadokawa Old Japanese Dictionary (角川古語大辞典), on surface analysis, it is a combination of native fossilised reading 役(え) (e, “duty, labour”) and a rendaku form of 立(た)ち (tachi, “founding”), denoting a sense of "government appointed or designated labour and duty".

First witnessed as a verb in a variant reading 欲太知 (よだつ, yodatu) at Manyōshū 3480 (万葉･三四八〇) quote "欲太知来ぬかも ". Also appeared in Engishiki (延喜式) or earlier Kojiki (古事記) and Nihon Shoki (日本書紀) rendering the reading 役(え). Myōgishō (名義抄) glossed 役 reading as え alongside another variant glyph 繇(えだち) (edachi, “forced labour”). Wamyō Ruijushō (和名類聚抄), an important Heian dictionary, also lists え as the Japanese reading for 役.

Regarding the ultimate etymology of the Old Japanese reading え and its dialectal variant よ, a scholar named Alexander Vovin (2003) wrote A Reference Grammar of Classical Japanese Prose noting that よ > え alternation is an evidence of native roots in some grammatical and lexical items. The fact that it exists in Kojiki (古事記) and Manyōshū (万葉集) proves that this reading predates Chinese loanwords and is found in part of the Ritsuryō (律令) system vocabulary and therefore a native Japanese reading (although obsolete nowadays).

1. (historical) labour service
   • 720, Nihon Shoki (日本書紀･顕宗訓):

     役を罷めしめたまふ
     えだちをやめしめたまふ

     The Emperor made him stop the labour duty.

   • 1185, Kōsanjihon Myōgishō (高山寺本名義抄･鎌倉初):

     役
     エタス

     labour

   • 1241, Kanchiinhon Myōgishō (観智院本名義抄):

     繇
     エタス

     labour

2. (historical) war service, armament, enlisting
   • 720, Nihon Shoki (日本書紀･神武訓):

     此の役に至りて意に窮誅さむと欲す
     このえだちにいたりてみこころにころさむとおもほす

     As this campaign commenced, the Emperor's intention was to mete out harsh chastisement.

From Middle Chinese 役 (MC ywek).

Recorded as Middle Korean ᄋᆑᆨ〮 (Yale: yuyek) in Dongguk Jeongun (東國正韻 / 동국정운), 1448.

Recorded as Middle Korean 역〮 (yék) (Yale: yek) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

役

Wikisource

役 (eumhun 부릴 역 (buril yeok))

1. hanja form^? of 역 (“duty; role”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

役: Hán Việt readings: dịch
役: Nôm readings: dịch, việc, diếc

1. chữ Hán form of dịch (“service, work”)
2. chữ Nôm form of việc (“work, job, business, matter, affair”)