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头衔 (tóu xián) — title (professional or honorary); rank

Definition

头衔 refers to a professional or honorary title carried by a person (e.g. 教授, 经理). 职称 is the formal rank in an official promotion system; 称号 is more often honorary or awarded (称号 战斗英雄); 标题 is a written heading, not a person's title.

noun
title (professional or honorary)rank
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 头衔。
    Tā huò dé le jiào shòu tóu xián.
    He obtained the title of professor.
  • 头衔。
    Zhè ge tóu xián zài háng yè lǐ hěn yǒu fèn liàng.
    This title carries a lot of weight in the industry.
  • 头衔。
    Míng yù tóu xián shì duì tā gòng xiàn de rèn kě.
    An honorary title is recognition of his contributions.

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tóuchief
衔xiánrank

头 suggests 'chief' and 衔 means 'rank', so the word denotes a title or rank.

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 →

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 銜; 衔 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
金
金jīn銜xián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 銜 puts 金 with 行, with 金 giving the sound and 行 the meaning. The simplified 衔 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 衔 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Identity & Titles

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