牙痛 (yá tòng) — toothache

Definition

noun
toothache

Examples

  • 牙痛，。
    Wǒ yá tòng dé lì hài, shén me dōu chī bú xià.
    I have a terrible toothache and can't eat anything.
  • ，牙痛。
    Nǐ zuì hǎo qù kàn yá yī, fǒu zé yá tòng huì yuè lái yuè yán zhòng.
    You'd better go see a dentist, otherwise the toothache will get worse and worse.
  • 牙痛，。
    Tā yīn wèi yá tòng, zuó wǎn yí yè méi shuì hǎo.
    Because of his toothache, he didn't sleep well last night.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

牙yátooth
痛tòngpain

牙 names the tooth, and 痛 names the ache, giving the idea of a tooth that aches.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 牙 →

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
疒疒nèillness
Sound part声符shēngfú
甬
甬yǒng痛tòng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 疒 part means illness, and 甬 gives the sound; together they form 痛, meaning pain or hurt.

Open 痛 →

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