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火车头 (huǒ chē tóu) — locomotive, railway engine

Definition

noun
locomotiverailway engine
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 火车头。
    Zhè liàng huǒ chē tóu shì diàn lì qū dòng de.
    This locomotive is electrically powered.
  • 火车头。
    Nà tái huǒ chē tóu de gōng lǜ hěn dà.
    That locomotive has great power.
  • 火车头。
    Lǎo shì de huǒ chē tóu yòng méi tàn zuò rán liào.
    Old-fashioned locomotives use coal as fuel.

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.

火车train
火huǒfire车chēvehicle
偏正Modifier + head
头tóufront part

火车 names the train, and 头 points to its front part, yielding a locomotive.

Characters in this word

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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
Trains & Transit

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