主题
zhǔtí · HSK 4
theme
🎭 主 (master/main) + 题 (topic) = main topic = theme
主 means host or main, originally a lamp flame on a stand — the central thing. 题 means subject or title, with 页 (page) as the radical. Together: the main subject under discussion, i.e. the theme or motif.
主 — flame/lamp on top of a stand 王
Originally a pictograph of a lamp with a flame on top of its stand, representing the lord or master of the household who tended the fire. The meaning extended from 'lamp/host' to 'master, owner, main, principal'. The character 炷 (wick) preserves the original 'lamp' sense.
题 — page radical 頁 + 是 (phonetic)
题 is a phono-semantic compound. The right side 是 gives the sound (shì→tí), while the left 頁 (simplified 页, 'head/page') carries the meaning, since titles and topics were written at the top of a page. Original sense was 'forehead,' later extended to 'title, topic, problem.'