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片头 (piàn tóu) — opening sequence (of a film or TV show), opening credits and titles

Definition

The opening credits/sequence of a film or TV show — pair it with 片尾 (the closing credits). Specifically the titles and intro, not the whole intro scene.

noun
opening sequence (of a film or TV show)opening credits and titles

Examples

  • 片头。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng de piàn tóu hěn yǒu chuàng yì.
    The opening sequence of this movie is very creative.
  • 片头。
    Wǒ men kàn wán le piàn tóu cái kāi shǐ liáo tiān.
    We waited until the opening credits finished before starting to chat.
  • 片头。
    Hěn duō guān zhòng xǐ huan tiào guò piàn tóu zhí jiē kàn zhèng piàn.
    Many viewers like to skip the opening sequence and go straight to the main film.

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.

片piànfilm
头tóubeginning

片 is the film, and 头 is its beginning.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 片 →

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
Film & Theater

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