气泡
qì pào · HSK 7
bubble
🫧 气 (air/gas) + 泡 (bubble) = a pocket of gas: a bubble
气 is air or gas, 泡 is a bubble or froth; together a gas bubble — the fizz in sparkling drinks or a blister trapped in metal. Sound cue: pào rhymes with cow, the gas going pao as it pops.
气 — steam/vapor radical 气
Originally a pictograph of rising vapor or clouds drifting in the sky, depicting curling streams of air. The character came to mean breath, air, and by extension vital energy or 'qi.' The simplified form 气 keeps the original outline; the traditional 氣 added 米 (rice) to suggest steam rising from cooking grain.
泡 — water radical 氵 + wrap 包
泡 is a phono-semantic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning (related to liquid), while 包 (bāo, 'wrap/enclose') supplies the sound and hints at something enclosed. Originally it described bubbles—pockets of air wrapped by water—and later extended to soaking or steeping.