扒
bā , pá · HSK 7
to peel
🍌 sounds like BAH! — the sound you make ripping bark off a tree
The reading bā sounds like an exasperated 'bah!' — link that grunt to the act of peeling or tearing something off. The alternate reading pá extends to clawing or pulling down, like stripping skin from fruit.
扒 — hand radical 扌 + 八 (eight, phonetic)
扒 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 signals an action done with the hand, while 八 supplies the sound (bā/pá). Original meanings cluster around hand actions like clinging, raking, digging, or stripping away, which is why it carries both readings — bā for cling/strip and pá for rake/scratch.