排队
páiduì · HSK 2
to line up
🚶♂️🚶♀️ 排 = arrange/line up + 队 = team/row → arrange a row
排 means to arrange or line up (think 'rank'); 队 means a team or formation. Together: arrange yourselves into a formation — i.e. form a queue.
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.'
队 — 阝(mound) + 㒸 (phonetic, suì)
Originally written 隊, depicting people falling from a mound (阝). The early sense was 'to fall down,' later borrowed for 'a group' or 'team' descending or marching together. The simplified form 队 keeps the mound radical 阝 but replaces the right side with 人 (person), suggesting people gathered in a line.