p8nda
p8nda BETA
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扮

bàn
verb HSK 7-9 #4,452

Meanings

  1. 1 to disguise
  2. 2 to dress up
  3. 3 to play a role

Examples

她扮演一个老师。
Tā bànyǎn yíge lǎoshī.
She plays the role of a teacher.
孩子们喜欢打扮。
Háizi men xǐhuan dǎbàn.
Children like to dress up.

Tips

usage
Common in 扮演 (bànyǎn, to play a role) and 打扮 (dǎbàn, to dress up).

Components

radical
扌 shǒu
hand (radical form)
Left hand radical — side-form of 手, indexing radical for 扮. Marks 扮 as a hand-action verb: dressing up, costuming, taking a role — all done by hand. Same radical group as 打 (hit), 拿 (take), 提 (lift), 推 (push), 抱 (hug). Hands shape the appearance.
phonetic
分 fēn
divide; portion
Right phonetic 分 — supplies the sound (fēn → bàn, labial-shift drift; same phonetic series gives 份 fèn, 盼 pàn, 纷 fēn). Originally a knife (刀) splitting (八) something. In 扮 the dividing image fits: dressing up assigns each person their part, dividing roles among the cast (hence 扮演).

Stroke Order

扮 bàn