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年头 (nián tóu) — year (often in counting years, e.g. 三个年头); the times; the current era or situation (as in 这年头); (dated) harvest; crop yield

Definition

A colloquial way to say 'year' when counting duration (三个年头 = three years), and often used in 这年头 ('these days') to mean the current state of affairs. The 'harvest' sense is dated.

noun
year (often in counting years, e.g. 三个年头)the timesthe current era or situation (as in 这年头)(dated) harvestcrop yield
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 年头。
    Wǒ men zài yì qǐ yǐ jīng sān gè nián tóu le.
    We've been together for three years already.
  • 年头。
    Zhè nián tóu zhǎo gōng zuò bǐ cóng qián nán duō le.
    These days, finding a job is much harder than before.
  • 年头，。
    Jīn nián shì gè hǎo nián tóu, liáng shi shōu cheng bú cuò.
    This year is a good harvest year; the grain yield is decent.

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.

年niányear
头tóutime ending

年 points to a year and 头 extends it to a span of time or the current era.

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

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
Months & DatesTime (Abstract)

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