乒乓球 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

pīngpāngqiú HSK7

table tennis

pīng ping

Derived from 兵 (bīng), with one stroke removed. Symmetric with 乓, so that 乒乓 (pīngpāng) resembles the back-and-forth motion of ping-pong.

bīng soldier

Derived from 兵 (bīng), with one stroke removed. Symmetric with 乒, so that 乒乓 (pīngpāng) resembles the back-and-forth motion of ping-pong.

bīng soldier

Phonosemantic compound. 𤣩 represents the meaning and 求 represents the sound.

yù jade

𤣩 is a component form of 玉.

求 Sound component

qiú seek

Regular Modern

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	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	gjuw	[g](r)[u]	'ball'?

《說文》：“球，玉聲也。从玉，求聲。璆，球或从翏。”