直播
zhí bō · HSK 3
live broadcast
📡 直 = direct/straight + 播 = broadcast/sow → live broadcast
直 means straight or direct; 播 covers broadcasting and also sowing seeds. Together: direct broadcasting (no recording, no edit) — and in farming, sowing seed directly into the field instead of transplanting.
直 — 十 ten + 目 eye + 乚 hidden line
Originally depicted an eye (目) looking straight along a vertical line, suggesting a direct, unswerving gaze. The form combines 目 'eye' with strokes indicating straightness. From this came the meanings 'straight,' 'upright,' and by extension 'honest' or 'direct.'
播 — hand 扌 + 番 (turn/spread, phonetic)
播 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 signals the action, while 番 (originally depicting a paw print, later 'turn' or 'in turn') gives the sound and hints at scattering or spreading. The original sense was sowing seeds by hand, broadcasting them across a field; this extended to today's meanings of broadcasting and disseminating.
zhí bō · HSK 5
livestream
📡 直 = straight/direct + 播 = broadcast
直 means direct or straight; 播 means to broadcast or transmit. Together: direct broadcast, i.e. a livestream. Contrast with 录播 (recorded broadcast).
直 — 十 ten + 目 eye + 乚 hidden line
Originally depicted an eye (目) looking straight along a vertical line, suggesting a direct, unswerving gaze. The form combines 目 'eye' with strokes indicating straightness. From this came the meanings 'straight,' 'upright,' and by extension 'honest' or 'direct.'
播 — hand 扌 + 番 (turn/spread, phonetic)
播 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 signals the action, while 番 (originally depicting a paw print, later 'turn' or 'in turn') gives the sound and hints at scattering or spreading. The original sense was sowing seeds by hand, broadcasting them across a field; this extended to today's meanings of broadcasting and disseminating.