发球 (fā qiú) — to serve (in tennis, volleyball, table tennis,… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb meaning 'to serve' the ball — used in tennis, badminton, table tennis, volleyball, etc. Unlike 开球, it is a verb-object phrase (a 离合词): you can insert 了 or a measure phrase, as in 发了一个球.

verb

to serve (in tennis, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, etc.)

Examples

发球。
Lún dào tā fā qiú le.
It's his turn to serve.
。
Tā fā le yí gè hěn kuài de qiú.
He served a very fast ball.
，。
Wǒ měi cì fā qiú dōu shī wù, zhēn zháo jí.
I make a fault every time I serve — it's really frustrating.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

发fāsend out

发 is to send out and 球 is the ball, together meaning serve.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

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

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