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街头 (jiē tóu) — street (as a locale, especially for street life, performances, or food)

Definition

街头 specifically evokes 'the streets' as a lively scene — buskers, snacks, street life. 街 is the plain word for any street; 马路 focuses on the road for traffic.

noun
street (as a locale, especially for street life, performances, or food)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 街头。
    Hěn duō rén zài jiē tóu chàng gē.
    Many people are singing on the street.
  • 街头。
    jiē tóu De xiǎo chī fēi cháng hǎo chī.
    The street snacks are very delicious.
  • 街头。
    Tā xǐ huan zài jiē tóu pāi zhào.
    He likes to take photos on the street.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

街jiēstreet
头tóuplace

街 gives the idea of a street, and 头 adds a place sense, giving the street as a locale.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
圭
圭guī街jiē
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

街 combines 行 and 圭: 行 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part. Originally, 圭 drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.

Open 街 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Streets & Addresses5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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