头
tóu · HSK 2
head
🗣️ sounds like 'toe' but up top — the head, not the foot
头 (tóu) means head, and by extension the top or chief of something (头发 hair, 头儿 boss). Memory hook: 'toe' is at the bottom, 'tóu' is at the top — same body-part vibe, opposite ends.
头 — 页 (head/page) + 豆 (bean, phonetic)
The traditional form 頭 combines 頁 (xié), meaning 'head', with 豆 (dòu) as the phonetic component. 頁 itself originally depicted a person with an emphasized head. The simplified form 头 is a modern shorthand that replaces 豆+頁 with a simpler shape while keeping the same meaning of 'head' or 'top'.
tóu · HSK 2
head
🗣️ Pictograph of a head on a neck; sounds like English 'toe' but points to the top
头 (tóu) means head — the opposite end from the toe. The simplified form lost the original 'head' radical 頁, but the meaning stuck. Also used as a measure word for cattle and a suffix marking nouns.
头 — 页 (head/page) + 豆 (bean, phonetic)
The traditional form 頭 combines 頁 (xié), meaning 'head', with 豆 (dòu) as the phonetic component. 頁 itself originally depicted a person with an emphasized head. The simplified form 头 is a modern shorthand that replaces 豆+頁 with a simpler shape while keeping the same meaning of 'head' or 'top'.