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头疼 (tóu téng) — headache (noun); to have a headache (stative verb)

Definition

headache (noun)to have a headache (stative verb)

Examples

  • 头疼。
    Wǒ jīn tiān tóu téng le.
    I have a headache today.
  • 头疼。
    tóu téng Shì yì zhǒng bù shū fu de gǎn jué.
    A headache is an uncomfortable feeling.
  • ，头疼。
    Tā gōng zuò tài duō, cháng cháng tóu téng.
    He works too much and often has headaches.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

头tóuhead
疼téngpain

头疼 combines 头 (head) and 疼 (pain) to describe pain in the head.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
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.

Open 头 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
疒疒nèsickness
Sound part声符shēngfú
冬
冬dōng疼téng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

疼 pairs 疒, a sickness marker, with 冬, which supplies the sound.

Open 疼 →
Appears in
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