仰头 (yǎng tóu) — to raise one's head, to look up

Definition

A directional verb meaning to tilt the head upward (look up), often reduplicated as 仰仰头 for a brief, light motion. Contrasts with 低头 (to lower the head) and 抬头 (more figurative 'to look up' / 'to gain confidence').

verb
to raise one's headto look up

Examples

  • 仰头。
    Tā yǎng tóu kàn zhe tiān shàng de xīng xing.
    He looked up at the stars in the sky.
  • ，。
    Tā yǎng le yí cì tóu, cái kàn dào guà zài qiáng shàng de zhōng.
    She raised her head once to see the clock hanging on the wall.
  • ，仰头。
    Bié yì zhí dī zhe tóu, duō yǎng tóu duì jǐng zhuī hǎo.
    Don't keep your head down all the time — looking up more is good for your neck.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

仰yǎngraise
头tóuhead

仰 means to raise or face upward, and 头 is head, so to lift 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
卬
卬áng仰yǎng
Same sound today

In 仰, the left part 亻 represents a person, and the right part 卬 gives the sound.

Open 仰 →

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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