超速

chāo sù · HSK 7

to exceed the speed limit

🚗💨 chao = exceed + su = speed — literally exceed-speed

超 means to surpass or go beyond, 速 means speed. Together they form the compound exceed-speed, used for speeding or breaking the speed limit. Chao sounds like 'chow' as in chowing down miles.

超 — 走 (run) + 召 (summon, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 走 'run' gives the meaning of moving past or going beyond, while 召 'summon' supplies the sound. The original sense was to leap or stride over something, which extended to 'surpass' and 'exceed'.

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