Definitions

liáng used in 跳踉[tiào liáng]
liàng used in 踉蹌|踉跄[liàng qiàng]

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character "踉" is structured with the semantic radical "足", denoting a relation to the foot or movement, and the phonetic component "良", which guides its pronunciation. Etymologically, it originated in early Chinese texts to describe a hurried or irregular manner of walking, but its independent semantic scope narrowed over centuries. Eventually, it became fixed almost exclusively within the compound "踉跄", where it conveys the specific meaning of staggering or stumbling, marking a transition from a more general verb to a specialized element in a disyllabic expression. This evolution in usage, where the character's role condensed into a set lexical pairing, occurred without significant alteration to its graphical form.

Example Sentences Hide

他走路跄跄。

Tā zǒulù liàngliàngqiàngqiàng.

He walks unsteadily.

老人跄地站起来。

Lǎorén liàngqiàng de zhàn qǐlái.

The old man staggered to his feet.

他喝醉了,跄着走路。

Tā hē zuì le, liàngqiàng zhe zǒulù.

He was drunk and staggered while walking.

小孩跄地跑向妈妈。

Xiǎohái liàngqiàng de pǎo xiàng māma.

The child stumbled running towards his mother.

黑暗中他跄了几步。

Hēi'àn zhōng tā liàngqiàng le jǐ bù.

In the darkness, he staggered a few steps.

他突然跄了一下。

Tā túrán liàngqiàng le yīxià.

He suddenly staggered.

尽管努力保持平衡,他还是跄了。

Jǐnguǎn nǔlì bǎochí pínghéng, tā háishì liàngqiàng le.

Despite trying to maintain balance, he still staggered.

在湿滑的路面上,他一个跄,差点摔倒。

Zài shīhuá de lùmiàn shàng, tā yī gè liàngqiàng, chàdiǎn shuāidǎo.

On the wet and slippery road, he staggered and almost fell.