挑选
tiāoxuǎn · HSK 4
choose
✅ 挑 = pick/carry + 选 = select; both halves mean choose
挑 (tiāo) means to pick or single out, and 选 (xuǎn) means to select or elect. Stacking two near-synonyms is a common Mandarin pattern for emphasis, giving 挑选 the sense of carefully choosing from options.
挑 — hand radical 扌 + 兆 (zhào, omen)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 signals a hand action, while 兆 supplies the sound. The original sense was to lift or carry on a shoulder pole, which extended to picking out, selecting, and stirring up — hence today's meanings 'to choose' (tiāo) and 'to provoke' (tiǎo).
选 — 辶 walk + 巽 (xùn, phonetic)
选 combines the walking radical 辶 with 巽, which suggests the sound. The original sense relates to going through or passing by, extended to 'picking out' or 'choosing' from a group. The simplified form replaces the older 選.