掀起
xiānqǐ · HSK 7
lift
🌊 掀 (lift by hand, 扌) + 起 (rise) = lift up, raise, make rise into a surge
掀 pairs the hand radical 扌 with 欣; it means to lift or fling up. Add 起 (to rise) and you get the sense of raising something up or whipping up a wave or surge.
掀 — hand radical 扌 + 欣 (xīn, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 signals an action done with the hand, while 欣 (xīn) supplies the sound. The original sense is to lift or raise something with the hand, as in lifting a curtain or cover, which extends to figurative uses like stirring up a wave or movement.
起 — 走 (run) + 己 (self/phonetic)
起 combines 走 'run/walk' as the meaning component with 己 as the phonetic component. The 走 element suggests movement of the body, giving the core sense of rising up or starting to move. From there it extended to meanings like 'get up,' 'begin,' and 'arise.'