头人 (tóu rén) — headman; tribal chief | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

headmantribal chief

Measure word · 个

头人。
Zhè ge bù luò de tóu rén hěn yǒu wēi wàng.
The headman of this tribe is very prestigious.
头人。
Cūn mín men xuǎn jǔ le yí wèi xīn de tóu rén.
The villagers elected a new headman.
头人。
tóu rén Jué dìng míng tiān zhào kāi huì yì.
The headman decided to hold a meeting tomorrow.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

The idea of 头 as head combined with 人 as person gives a person who leads a group.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

豆頁頭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

豆

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

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