係 and 係員: An Assigned Role and the Staff Member in Charge
Compare handing an application to reception and taking a venue-guiding role with consulting a gate attendant and following emergency-door instructions. Distinguish the role, person, and reported action.
A reception contact and a venue-guiding assignment
係 (かかり) can mean a person in charge or an assignment. 「受付の係に申込書を渡した。」 — “I handed the application to the person at reception.” 受付の係 is the reception person who received the application.
「私は会場案内の係を任された。」 — “I was assigned to guide people around the venue.” Here 係 focuses on the assigned role of guiding people at the venue. Receiving that assignment does not establish that all the guiding was completed.
Consulting an attendant and following instructions
係員 (かかりいん) means an attendant or staff member. 「切符をなくしたので改札の係員に相談した。」 — “After losing my ticket, I consulted the attendant at the gate.” The consultation followed the loss of a ticket. The sentence does not report that a replacement ticket was issued.
「係員の案内に従って非常口から外へ出た。」 — “Following the staff member's instructions, we exited through the emergency door.” The sentence reports an exit through the emergency door following the staff member's instructions. Use of that door alone does not add a reported accident.
The responsibility and the person holding it
At reception, 係 refers to a person in charge; in the venue example, it focuses on an assigned responsibility. Identify the referent rather than making every 係 a person-only term.
The 係員 examples identify staff consulted or followed. The person-in-charge scopes can overlap with 係, without establishing a rank or employment-contract type.
Does being assigned 会場案内の係 mean that all the venue guidance is complete?
Show the answer and why
No. It states the assigned role of guiding people at the venue, without reporting completed guidance. Its focus differs from the separate 係 referring to the reception contact.