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头发 (tóu fa) — hair (on the head)

Definition

Refers specifically to the hair on a person's head — not body hair or animal fur (use 毛 for those). It's a separable-style noun: 头发 is the bare word, but in many expressions only 发 appears (理发, 洗头/发).

noun
hair (on the head)
Measure word · 根

Examples

  • 头发。
    Tā de tóu fa hěn hēi.
    Her hair is very black.
  • ，头发。
    Wǒ jīn tiān yào lǐ fà, yīn wèi tóu fa tài cháng le.
    I'm getting a haircut today because my hair is too long.
  • 头发？
    Nǐ zǎo shàng xǐ tóu fa le ma?
    Did you wash your hair this morning?

Origin

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tóuhead
发fāhair

头 and 发 name the body part and hair, so it means 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 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 →

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 →
Appears in
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