What does the use of 'verb 了 verb' indicate?

Question

This text is 囊萤照读。 In this short text I found 5 'verb 了 verb' repetitions:

擦了擦汗，晃了晃头，揉了揉脖子，挪了挪屁股，灯在耳边摇了摇

Do these just indicate repeated action?

Or is it 'verb 了 noun':
擦了擦: wipe a wipe
晃了晃: shake a shake
揉了揉: rub a rub
挪了挪: move a move
摇了摇: shake a shake

Answer 1

1. [verb]+[verb]

Repeat a same verb once, is called 'redoubling'. A redoubled verb indicates the action happens in a slight degree and a short duration.

Example:

點頭 ( nod head); 點點頭 ( nod head slightly)

試 (try); 試試 (try a little )

看 (look); 看看 (look briefly)

2. [verb]+[counting word]+ [ verb]

In the cases of a verb following by a counting word and then the same verb again, the repeated verb is actually a [verb classifier]

Example:

點頭 (nod head); 點一點頭 (nod one nod/ nod head once)

試 (try); 試一試 (try one try / try once )

看 (look); 看一看 (look one look / look once )

3. The particle 了 following a verb indicate 'completion'

Example:

點了一點頭 (nodded one nod/ nodded head once)

試了一試 (tried one try / tried once )

看了一看 (looked one look / looked once )

Now come to your question: what [verb]+了+[verb] indicate?

It is similar to point (3) with the counting word omitted.

點了點頭 = 點了(一)點頭

試了試 = 試了(一)試

看了看 = 看了(一)看