颤抖
chàn doǔ · HSK 7
to shake
🥶 CHAN-t DOUBT it — when you shiver, your body chants doubt
Your teeth chatter out chan-chan-chan while your whole body shakes with doubt (dou). 颤 = tremble, 抖 = shake. Together they double down on the quaking — no part of you holds still.
抖 — hand radical 扌 + 斗 dǒu (dipper)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 gives the meaning — actions done with the hand like shaking or trembling — while 斗 (a ladle/dipper) supplies the sound. Originally 'to shake out' (as one shakes a dipper), it extended to shivering, trembling, and rousing oneself.