烫头 (tàng tóu) — to get a perm, to perm one's hair

Definition

Colloquial verb meaning 'to perm one's hair' (literally 'perm + head'). A separable verb: 烫头 / 烫了一次头, with 头 as the inserted object. More everyday than the formal 烫发.

verb
to get a permto perm one's hair

Examples

  • 烫头。
    Tā míng tiān yào qù tàng tóu.
    She's going to get a perm tomorrow.
  • 烫头。
    Wǒ xiǎng tàng tóu yí cì.
    I want to get a perm once.
  • 。
    Tā shàng ge yuè tàng le yí cì tóu.
    She got a perm last month.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

烫tàngperm
头tóuhair

烫 means to apply heat or perm and 头 stands for hair, so the action is perming hair.

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
火火huǒ
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 →

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 →

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