题名 (tí míng) — title (of an article, book, or other work); autograph (a notable person's handwritten signature)

Definition

At HSK 7, 题名 most often means the 'title' of a written work, especially a formal or literary one. It can also mean an autograph from a notable person.

noun
title (of an article, book, or other work)autograph (a notable person's handwritten signature)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 题名《》。
    Zhè běn shū de tí míng shì 《huó zhe》.
    The title of this book is 'To Live'.
  • 题名。
    Tā qǐng zuò jiā zài shū yè shàng qiān le gè tí míng.
    He asked the author to sign an autograph on the page.
  • 题名。
    Wén zhāng tí míng de zì tǐ shè jì dé hěn jīng měi.
    The font design of the article's title is very exquisite.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

题tíinscribe
名míngname

题 means to inscribe and 名 means a name, so the meaning is inscribing a name or a title.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 題; 题 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
是
是shì題tí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 题, the traditional form 題 uses 是 for sound and 頁 for head, and means 'forehead'.

Open 题 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

Open 名 →

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