顫 (chàn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

顫

chàn[chan4]Tone 4

to tremble

HSK 7

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颤

Guru Deep Dive

English · to tremble

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:19

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left side (雷) compact and slightly higher, leaving ample room for the right side (頁) to stretch downwards gracefully without crowding.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 顫 pairs 雷 (thunder) with 頁 (head/page). In simplified 颤, the right component 頁 is simplified to 见, reducing stroke complexity.

1. Meaning

to tremble, shiver, or vibrate

to shake due to cold or fearto quiver with emotion

VerbNeutral#physical action#body movement#emotion

Sample Usage

他冷得浑身发颤。
Tā lěng de húnshēn fā chàn.
He was shivering all over from the cold.
她的声音有些发颤。
Tā de shēngyīn yǒuxiē fā chàn.
Her voice was trembling a bit.

2. Sound

/[t͡ʂʰän˥˩]/Tone: 51

顫

chànchan4

`(51)

=chàn

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

chan

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: ch sound with a retroflex tongue curl

AspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: Both curled tongue AND explosive puff of air! Tissue MUST fly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near the hard palate, releasing a strong puff of air

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -an rhymes with 'on' in sun or 'ahn'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ahn'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges sharply downward, like an emphatic 'No!' or a sharp command.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the initial ch- (retroflex) with c- (dental) or zh- (unaspirated).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, forceful chopping motion downwards, mirroring the falling tone from high (5) to low (1).

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 19 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left side (雷) compact and slightly higher, leaving ample room for the right side (頁) to stretch downwards gracefully without crowding.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 顫 pairs 雷 (thunder) with 頁 (head/page). In simplified 颤, the right component 頁 is simplified to 见, reducing stroke complexity.

4. Components

Radical 页 · Page / Head Radical (head, page, face)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 见 (denotes the head or appearance being affected)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 雷 (original sound: lei / chan phonetic influence)

A sudden clap of thunder (雷) makes your head or body (见/页) shiver and tremble with shock.

雷 thunder / shaking force
见 simplified form of 页 (head / body aspect)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

12· Phonetic Root: 亶 (dǎn)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 雷 (thunder, representing a shaking or rumbling force) and 页 (head/body), indicating a body shaking like thunder.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to trembling or shaking of the head or body due to fear or cold, extending to general vibration.

In Taiwan, this character is often pronounced as zhàn in certain formal or compound words, though chàn is standard in Mainland Mandarin.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

chiến

Sino-Vietnamese reading has a similar entering/checked quality or correspondence.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: セン (sen) / Kun: ふる.える (furueru)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

전

Sound Shift Bridge: Mandarin chàn corresponds to Sino-Xenic readings starting with t/ch or s/z.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine hearing a terrifying crash of THUNDER (雷) right above your HEAD (页), causing you to shiver and TREMBLE (颤) uncontrollably.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

亶

dǎnsurname Dan; sincerePhonetic Core (声旁)

擅

shànexpert in, without authority+ 扌 (hand)

颤

chànto tremble+ 页 (head)

壇

+ 土 (earth)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

阐(chǎn)

Uses 门 (gate) instead of 雷 (thunder), meaning to explain or expound.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

听到這個可怕的消息，他嚇得渾身發[___]。

Clue: chàn

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the complex left component 雷 or miswriting the simplified right side as the full 頁 instead of 见.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 颤, what physical action does it describe?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to tremble' (chàn) combining thunder and head elements?

顫chànto tremble

Speed:

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