转播
zhuǎnbò · HSK 7
relay (radio/TV broadcast)
📡📺 转 (forward/relay) + 播 (broadcast) = pass a broadcast along the chain
转 means turn or forward something on; 播 is to broadcast or sow. Together: take one station's signal and forward it onward, like a radio or TV relay passing the program down the line. Sound: zhuǎn-bò.
转 — car radical 车 + 专 (phonetic)
转 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 车 (cart/wheel) gives the meaning, evoking something that turns or rotates like a wheel. The right side 专 supplies the sound. Originally referring to the turning of a cart's wheels, it broadened to mean 'turn,' 'rotate,' or 'shift' in general.
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.