拔

bá

扌 + 犮

HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

bá (verb) to pull up; to pull out

bá (verb) to surpass; to stand out

bá (verb) to select; to pick

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and and 犮 represents the sound.

Semantic: 扌 Phonetic: 犮

About

拔 is a phono-semantic compound: the hand radical 扌 (shǒu) on the left signals a manual action involving force, while the right side 犮 (bá) provides the pronunciation and once depicted a running dog or a dragging motion. The original meaning is to pull out, uproot, or extract something from its place or the ground, often with force. Since pulling out involves an upward motion, the character later took on figurative meanings of promoting someone, elevating status, or standing out conspicuously in talent or height.

Etymology Hide

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我帮妈妈拔草。

Wǒ bāng māma bá cǎo.

I help mom pull weeds.

医生给我拔牙。

Yīshēng gěi wǒ bá yá.

The dentist pulls my tooth.

我们喜欢拔河比赛。

Wǒmen xǐhuān bá hé bǐsài.

We like tug of war competitions.

他拔出了那把旧刀。

Tā bá chūle nà bǎ jiù dāo.

He pulled out that old knife.

选拔过程非常公平。

Xuǎnbá guòchéng fēichāng gōngpíng.

The selection process is very fair.

公司提拔了许多年轻人。

Gōngsī tíbále xǔduō niánqīng rén.

The company promoted many young people.

请记得拔掉电视插头。

Qǐng jìde bá diào diànshì chātóu.

Please remember to unplug the TV plug.

这项政策旨在拔高教育水平。

Zhè xiàng zhèngcè zhǐ zài bá gāo jiàoyù shuǐpíng.

This policy aims to raise the education level.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 扌

Component: 犮

拔