排球
páiqiú · HSK 2
volleyball
🏐 排 = arrange/line-up + 球 = ball; the lined-up-team ball
排 (pái) means to arrange in a row, as players line up across the net. 球 (qiú) just means ball. So 排球 is literally the row-ball or team-formation ball — volleyball.
排 — hand radical 扌 + 非 (fēi, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 gives the meaning (an action done with the hands), while 非 supplies the sound. The original sense was to push or shove aside with the hand, which extended to arranging things in a row, hence modern meanings like 'to arrange,' 'a row,' or 'to reject.'
球 — jade radical 玉/王 + qiu 求 (phonetic)
球 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 王 is the 'jade' radical, indicating the original meaning: a fine piece of jade or a jade ornament. The right side 求 supplies the sound 'qiu'. Over time the meaning broadened from a jade sphere to any round object, and today it most commonly means 'ball' or 'globe'.