排球 (pái qiú) — volleyball | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A ball game played over a high net with the hands. The 球 ending marks it as a ball sport, paired with 打 (打排球 'play volleyball').

noun

volleyball

Measure word · 个

Examples

排球。
Wǒ xiǎo shí hou hěn xǐ huan dǎ pái qiú.
I really liked playing volleyball when I was young.
。
Xué xiào de pái qiú duì yíng le bǐ sài.
The school volleyball team won the match.
排球。
Zhè ge pái qiú shì xīn de.
This volleyball is new.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

“排” suggests rows and “球” means ball, naming a ball game played in rows.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

扌非排

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

非

非fēi排pái

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

排 uses 扌 (hand) to show arranging something with the hand, and 非 for the sound; this gives the sense of placing things in a line.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú球qiú

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Ball Games

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