摇晃
yáo huàng · HSK 7
to shake
🌊 摇 (shake/wave) + 晃 (sway) = two shaking verbs stacked: rock, shake, sway
Both characters mean a swaying motion, so 摇晃 doubles up on the idea of unsteady back-and-forth movement. 摇 yáo is the wave/shake; 晃 huàng is the sway. Used for a boat, a loose tooth, or a wobbly table.
摇 — hand 扌 + 䍃 (phonetic, jar/pottery)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 gives the meaning of physical motion, while 䍃 (depicting a hand over a jar) supplies the sound. The original sense was to shake or sway something with the hand, later broadened to any swinging or rocking motion.
晃 — sun 日 + bright 光 (also phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 日 (sun) gives the meaning of brightness, while 光 (light) supplies both meaning and sound. Originally it depicted dazzling sunlight, hence 'bright, dazzling.' The reading huàng later extended to 'sway, shake,' as if shimmering light wavers.