颤 (chàn): to tremble; to shiver; to quiver

Meanings

1 to tremble; to shiver; to quiver
2 to vibrate; to shake

Characters

Contains 亶 (dǎn, sincere) as phonetic + 页 (head/page radical). The 页 radical relates to the head — trembling of the head/body.

Examples

她冷得浑身发颤。

Tā lěng de húnshēn fāchàn.

She was so cold her whole body was shivering.

他的声音在颤抖。

Tā de shēngyīn zài chàndǒu.

His voice was trembling.

地震的时候整栋楼都在颤。

Dìzhèn de shíhou zhěng dòng lóu dōu zài chàn.

During the earthquake the whole building was shaking.

Tips

usage

颤 has two readings: chàn (tremble, as in 颤抖 chàndǒu, 发颤 fāchàn) and zhàn (shiver, as in 颤栗 zhànlì, 打颤 dǎzhàn). The chàn reading is far more common in modern usage.

Components

radical

页 yè

page; head (radical form)

Right side 页 — the indexing head radical, a stylised drawing of a kneeling figure with emphasized head. Indexes 颤 in the head-and-face family alongside 颠 to topple, 顶 crown, 顾 to turn the head. The original 颤 named a trembling head — a shiver felt first in the skull.

phonetic

亶 dǎn

abundant grain; sincere (here phonetic)

Left side 亶 supplies the sound: dǎn drifted to chàn (also zhàn) via a regular d/zh-ch alternation. 亶 originally pictured a storehouse stuffed with grain — abundant, generous — but the imagery doesn't transfer here. Same phonetic underlies 擅 to monopolize and 颤's twin pronunciation pattern.