跟随
gēnsuí · HSK 5
to follow
👣 跟随 = 跟 (heel) + 随 (follow along)
跟 means heel or to follow on someone's heels; 随 means to follow or comply. Together 跟随 stacks two follow-verbs, intensifying the sense of trailing behind or accompanying someone closely.
跟 — foot radical 足 + 艮 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 足 (foot) gives the meaning, since 跟 originally referred to the heel of the foot. The right side 艮 supplies the sound. From 'heel' it extended to 'follow behind,' and in modern Chinese it also works as 'with' or 'and.'
随 — 辶 (walk) + 阝 (mound) + 有 phonetic
随 combines the walk radical 辶 with a phonetic component derived from 隋. The original sense is 'to follow along a path,' from the walking radical suggesting movement after someone. Over time it broadened to mean 'follow,' 'accompany,' or 'comply with.'