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I came across these sentences in the same manga.

[1] よつばはこびがかりな！

[2] しんぶんとってくるかかりか？

[3] よつばちゃん新聞係？

I'm guessing it's 係 "person in charge" in these sentences. Is it がかり whenever
it is a verb stem / noun like はこび ? And かかり for everything else, such as verb
clauses like しんぶんとってくる that modify it? So I'm guessing the third sentence is
新聞[係]{がかり}.
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2020-05-11T14:40:55.890
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2020-05-11T22:15:09.210
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question
readings rendaku
How do I read 係?
I think your understanding is correct. In Japanese elementary schools students
are assigned to a 係. Like 給食を運ぶ係（給食係） 黒板をキレイにする係（黒板係）. Although 新聞係 is more
formal than 新聞を運ぶ係.
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2020-05-11T18:01:22.260
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係 as a noun on its own is read かかり, but 係 in a compound noun is read がかり due
to [rendaku](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/2526/5010). So yes, 新聞係 is
read しんぶんがかり.

運 **ぶ** 係 is a fairly ordinary phrase made of a noun and a relative clause
modifying it, so 係 is read かかり because it's a standalone noun. On the other
hand, 運 **び** 係 is essentially a noun-noun compound, so 係 is read がかり. (As you
probably know, [the masu-stem works like a
noun](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/32311/5010).)
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2020-05-13T04:07:23.940
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answer