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颤栗 (chàn lì) — to shiver, to tremble

Definition

verb
to shiverto tremble

Examples

  • ，颤栗。
    Hán fēng xí lái, tā bù yóu de quán shēn chàn lì.
    When the cold wind hit, he couldn't help trembling all over.
  • ，颤栗。
    Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā gǎn dào yí zhèn chàn lì.
    Upon hearing this news, she felt a shudder.
  • 颤栗，。
    Kǒng jù ràng tā chàn lì bù yǐ, shuō bù chū huà lái.
    Fear made him tremble incessantly, unable to speak.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

颤chàntremble
栗lìshiver

颤 (tremble) and 栗 (shiver) are parallel bodily shaking.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 顫; 颤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
亶
亶dǎn顫chàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 顫, 頁 shows the head and 亶 supplies the sound; the simplified 颤 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original components.

Open 颤 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

栗 originally drew chestnuts growing on a tree.

Open 栗 →
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