TongTong
Sign in

手指头 (shǒu zhǐ tou) — finger

Definition

noun
finger
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 手指头。
    Wǒ de shǒu zhǐ tou shòu shāng le.
    My finger got injured.
  • 手指头。
    Tā de yì gēn shǒu zhǐ tou bèi zhǐ gē pò le.
    One of his fingers was cut by paper.
  • 手指头。
    Tā yòng shǒu zhǐ tou zài zhuō shàng qiāo le liǎng xià.
    She tapped twice on the table with her finger.

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.

手指finger
手shǒuhand指zhǐfinger
偏正Modifier + head
头tóu

手指 names a finger, and 头 completes the spoken form for finger.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
旨
旨zhǐ指zhǐ
Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand form 手. The right part 旨 gives the sound.

Open 指 →

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
Body Parts

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.