TSUMUGU · A2 (est.) · 字
挑
挑 ＝ 扌 ＋ 兆
ㄊㄧㄠ · tiāo/tiǎo
verb — to pick out, choose; to poke, stir up
字源 FORM — what the parts do
扌義the hand
兆聲zhào — cracks in a heated divining shell; gives the soundthe zh worn to t
{t,d,zh}ITzhào → tiāo — the zh pulled to t, tone too
The hand (扌) singles a thing out, or works a point free — to pick, to poke. 兆 zhào, the splayed cracks read for omens, carries the sound, worn from zh to t. Picking gives 挑選; the prying, poking line gives 挑撥, 挑戰.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
手（扌）拿尖頭，從一堆裡把要的那個撥出來。
The hand (扌) takes a point and works the wanted one out of the heap.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
tiāo
(本義)挑選、挑揀— to pick out, choose常用
→挑剔— to nitpick — to pick at faults
tiǎo
(本義)挑撥、挑起— to poke up, stir up常用
→挑戰— to challenge — to provoke a contest
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
兆zhàothe phonetic, the bare omen-cracks — 挑 sets the hand to it跳＝ 足 ＋ tiàosame , but on 足 (a foot) — to jump