摇 (yáo) · to shake, to rock, to wave

Meanings

1 to shake
2 to rock
3 to wave
4 to sway

Characters

摇

yáo

to shake; to rock; to sway

扌(hand) + 遥 phonetic - shaking done by hand

Examples

HSK 2

她摇了摇头。

Tā yáo le yáotóu.

She shook her head.

HSK 4

风把树摇得很厉害。

Fēng bǎ shù yáo de hěn lìhai.

The wind shook the tree violently.

HSK 6

妈妈轻轻地摇着摇篮。

Māma qīngqīngde yáo zhe yáolán.

Mom gently rocks the cradle.

Tips

usage

摇头 (yáo tóu) means to shake one's head (no). 摇摆 means to sway/waver. 摇滚 (yáogǔn) means rock and roll.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side form of 手)

Hand radical on the left - to shake, swing, wave is fundamentally a hand-action. 摇 covers shaking your head, waving a flag, rocking a cradle - all manual oscillations. Same radical anchors 摇 with 拉 pull, 推 push, 抓 grab, 抖 tremble - the wide hand-verb family.

phonetic

䍃 yáo

earthen jar (rare standalone)

Right side 䍃 supplies an exact phonetic match: yáo → yáo, no drift. Originally pictured an earthen pot being lifted with the hands - fitting the hand-shaking imagery on the left. Rarely seen standalone but very productive as a phonetic: also gives 摇 yáo, 遥 yáo (distant), 谣 yáo (rumor), 瑶 yáo (precious jade), 窑 yáo (kiln).