<p>That's a cute mnemonic, but not how characters work.</p>

<ul>
<li>「蹦」does not specifically mean <em>bungee jumping</em>, it just means <em>hopping/jumping/skipping</em>, e.g. 蹦蹦跳跳 (<em>skippity-skip</em>).</li>
<li>Identify clearly what each component does in a character, and <strong>don't recursively decompose characters</strong>.「蹦」only contains two components:

<ul>
<li>Semantic component「足」(<em>foot > actions to do with feet/legs</em>)</li>
<li>Phonetic component「崩」<strong>bēng</strong>  

<ul>
<li>Don't recursively decompose this into「山」and「朋」! These don't contribute anything direct to「蹦」.</li>
<li>「崩」<strong>bēng</strong> doesn't contribute anything apart from sound. If you must know the composition of「崩」, its meaning is <em>to collapse</em>, metaphorically hinted with「山」(<em>a mountain collapsing</em>), and its phonetic part is「朋」<strong>péng</strong>.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<hr>

<p>Sadly, there are no friends and no mountains, but happily no collapsing in「蹦」. Stay safe!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-28T06:19:52.597Z
2019-09-28T06:28:17.450Z
2019-09-28T06:28:17.450Z
dROOOze
<p>I find myself fascinated by the character</p>
<h1><a href="http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E8%B9%A6" rel="nofollow noreferrer">蹦</a></h1>
<p>in the word <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E8%B9%A6%E6%9E%81" rel="nofollow noreferrer">蹦极</a> (meaning &quot;bungee jumping&quot;).  It combines:</p>
<ul>
<li>the radical <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E8%B6%B3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">足</a> (meaning &quot;foot&quot;), in the character <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E8%B7%B3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">跳</a> meaning &quot;jump&quot;;</li>
<li>the radical <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%B1%B1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">山</a> meaning &quot;mountain&quot;; and</li>
<li>the character <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E6%9C%8B" rel="nofollow noreferrer">朋</a> meaning &quot;friends&quot;, as in <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B" rel="nofollow noreferrer">朋友</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>It's as if the character was deliberately designed to resemble friends jumping from a mountain.  I'm hoping this thought can be verified or contradicted.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: Was the character 蹦 (in 蹦极 &quot;bungee jumping&quot;) designed to look like people bungee jumping?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-28T06:50:26.233Z
"bungee jumping" is transliterated as  "笨豬跳"  http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/43239/ in Cantonese. And I think it is the best name for this 'sport'
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-28T06:53:54.527Z
蹦極 is a very nice transliteration, as it literally means *jump extreme*.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-28T06:55:31.277Z
@ droooze Yeah, but it is not as funny as the Cantonese transliteration
Tang Ho
<characters><etymology><glyph-origin>
Was the character 蹦 (in 蹦极 "bungee jumping") designed to look like people bungee jumping?
# Was the character 蹦 (in 蹦极 "bungee jumping") designed to look like people bungee jumping?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-09-28)

I find myself fascinated by the character

# [蹦](http://youdao.com/w/eng/%E8%B9%A6)

in the word [蹦极](http://youdao.com/w/%E8%B9%A6%E6%9E%81) (meaning "bungee jumping"). It combines:

* the radical [足](http://youdao.com/w/%E8%B6%B3) (meaning "foot"), in the character [跳](http://youdao.com/w/%E8%B7%B3) meaning "jump";
* the radical [山](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%B1%B1) meaning "mountain"; and
* the character [朋](http://youdao.com/w/%E6%9C%8B) meaning "friends", as in [朋友](http://youdao.com/w/%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B).

It's as if the character was deliberately designed to resemble friends jumping from a mountain. I'm hoping this thought can be verified or contradicted.

**Question**: Was the character 蹦 (in 蹦极 "bungee jumping") designed to look like people bungee jumping?

**Tags:** characters, etymology, glyph-origin
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "bungee jumping" is transliterated as  "笨豬跳"  http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/43239/ in Cantonese. And I think it is the best name for this 'sport'  
> **username_2**: 蹦極 is a very nice transliteration, as it literally means *jump extreme*.  
> **username_1**: @ droooze Yeah, but it is not as funny as the Cantonese transliteration  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-09-28. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

That's a cute mnemonic, but not how characters work.

* 「蹦」does not specifically mean *bungee jumping*, it just means *hopping/jumping/skipping*, e.g. 蹦蹦跳跳 (*skippity-skip*).
* Identify clearly what each component does in a character, and **don't recursively decompose characters**.「蹦」only contains two components:
  + Semantic component「足」(*foot > actions to do with feet/legs*)
  + Phonetic component「崩」**bēng**
    - Don't recursively decompose this into「山」and「朋」! These don't contribute anything direct to「蹦」.
    - 「崩」**bēng** doesn't contribute anything apart from sound. If you must know the composition of「崩」, its meaning is *to collapse*, metaphorically hinted with「山」(*a mountain collapsing*), and its phonetic part is「朋」**péng**.

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Sadly, there are no friends and no mountains, but happily no collapsing in「蹦」. Stay safe!


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