烫发 (tàng fà) — to perm (one's hair); to get a perm

Definition

Verb meaning 'to perm one's hair' — separable: 烫发 / 烫一次发 / 烫出来的发. Refers to the styling action, not a noun for the hairstyle.

verb
to perm (one's hair)to get a perm

Examples

  • 烫发,。
    Wǒ xiǎng tàng fà, dàn shì yòu pà shāng tóu fa.
    I want to perm my hair, but I'm afraid it will damage it.
  • ,。
    Tā tàng le yí cì fā, xiào guǒ fēi cháng hǎo.
    She permed her hair once and the result was excellent.
  • 烫发。
    Zhè zhǒng yào shuǐ tàng chū lái de tàng fà hěn zì rán.
    The perm done with this solution looks very natural.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

烫tàngapply heat
发fāhair

“烫” means applying heat to curl, and “发” names the hair being treated.

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 燙; 烫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
湯
湯tāng燙tàng
Same sound today

In the traditional form 燙, 火 (fire) is paired with 湯 (tāng) for the sound.

Open 烫 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →

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