奔跑
bēn pǎo · HSK 6
to run
🏃💨 奔 = rush/dash + 跑 = run; compound means to run fast
奔 (bēn) means to rush or dash headlong, and 跑 (pǎo) means to run. Together 奔跑 is the intensified compound for running at speed — sprinting, galloping, bolting.
奔 — 大 (person) over 卉 (originally three 止 'feet')
Originally a pictograph of a person (大) running with multiple feet (three 止) shown below to convey rapid motion. Over time the feet were simplified into the form 卉. The character means to run fast, rush, or hurry.
跑 — foot 足 + wrap 包
A semantic-phonetic compound. The foot radical 足 gives the meaning (an action done with the feet), while 包 (bāo) hints at the sound, shifted to pǎo. Originally it could mean an animal pawing the ground, later generalizing to 'run'.