调试
tiáo shì · HSK 7
debugging
🐞🔧 调 adjust + 试 test = adjust-and-test, which is what debugging is
调 means to tune or adjust and 试 means to test or try, so 调试 is literally adjust-and-test: the tweak-then-retry cycle of debugging. The English word debug uses a bug 🐞, a handy hook for the same idea.
调 — speech radical 讠(言) + 周 zhōu (phonetic)
调 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 讠(言) radical signals 'speech' or 'words,' while 周 supplies the sound. Originally meaning to harmonize or coordinate through words, it later extended to 'tune,' 'adjust,' and 'melody' (read diào), and 'mix evenly' or 'mediate' (read tiáo).
试 — speech radical 讠 (言) + 式 shì
试 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The speech radical 讠 (言, 'words/speech') gives the meaning, since testing originally involved questioning or verbal trial. The right side 式 ('pattern, model') supplies the sound shì. Together they suggest 'to try out by a set method,' yielding senses like test, try, attempt.