头骨 (tóu gǔ) — skull | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

skull

Measure word · 个

头骨。
Zhè ge tóu gǔ de xíng zhuàng hěn qí guài.
The shape of this skull is very strange.
头骨。
Kǎo gǔ xué jiā fā xiàn le yí gè gǔ lǎo de tóu gǔ.
Archaeologists discovered an ancient skull.
头骨。
Yī shēng zǐ xì jiǎn chá le bìng rén de tóu gǔ.
The doctor carefully examined the patient's skull.

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.

头 denotes the body part above the neck and 骨 means bone, giving the sense of the bone of that part, the skull.

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.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

冎

冎guǎ骨gǔ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The older form 冎 drew a bone; 肉, flesh, was added to make 骨.

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