跄

The compound sets the reading and kind of movement.

In Mandarin, 跄 in 跄跄 is qiāng, roughly “chyahng” with a high, level tone; in 踉跄 it is qiàng, the same sound with a falling tone.

Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese character dictionary, glosses it as “move” and cites 巧趋跄兮 in the Book of Songs, an old poetry collection. The Book of Rites uses 士跄跄 for ritual bearing; an annotated Shangshu, an old Chinese political-text collection, uses 鸟兽跄跄 for animal dancers. The traditional form 蹌 pairs the foot radical with 倉 as its sound component.