头生 (tóu shēng) — firstborn (child) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

firstborn (child)

Measure word · 个

头生，。
Tā de tóu shēng shì gè nǚ ér, xiàn zài yǐ jīng shàng xiǎo xué le.
His firstborn is a daughter, and she is already in elementary school.
，头生。
Zài gǔ dài, tóu shēng wǎng wǎng chéng dān gèng duō de jiā tíng zé rèn.
In ancient times, the firstborn often shouldered more family responsibilities.
头生，。
Tā zuò wéi tóu shēng, cóng xiǎo jiù xué huì le zhào gù dì di mèi mei.
As the firstborn, she learned to take care of her younger siblings from a young age.

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 means first and 生 means born, so 头生 refers to the first-born child.

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.

豆頁頭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

豆

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.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.