批评
pīpíng · HSK 3
criticize
批 = strike/slap + 评 = appraise; a slap-judgment, i.e. criticism
批 means to strike or comment on, 评 means to appraise or judge. Together 批评 is a judgmental strike against someone's work or behavior — to criticize. Sounds like pee-ping, near-homophone of English peeving.
批 — hand radical 扌 + 比 (compare, phonetic)
批 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 signals an action done with the hand, while 比 supplies the sound (bǐ → pī). Its original sense was to strike or slap with the hand, which extended to 'push aside,' then to 'judge' or 'comment on' (as in 批评), and finally to 'a batch' of things handled together.
评 — speech radical 讠 + flat 平
评 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 讠 (speech) signals it relates to spoken judgment or discussion, while 平 (flat, level) provides the sound and hints at weighing things evenly. Together they convey appraising or commenting fairly.