The Chinese word 徘徊 is formed through the morphological process of reduplication, where two semantically and phonetically similar characters are paired to create a single, expressive concept. Both characters contain the radical 彳, which signifies movement or walking. 徘 and 徊 independently carry related meanings of moving back and forth or circling. By duplicating them, the word intensifies and encapsulates the specific idea of hesitating, pacing to and fro, or lingering indecisively in one place, perfectly capturing the physical and mental state of uncertainty.