The word 婆娑 is formed by combining two phono-semantic characters: 婆 integrates the semantic radical 女 (woman) with the phonetic component 波 (bō) to achieve the pronunciation pó, while 娑 uses the semantic radical 女 and the phonetic component 沙 (shā) to produce suō, together creating a disyllabic term that denotes a swirling or dancing motion.