头疼
toú téng · HSK 6
headache
🤕 头 head + 疼 pain — sounds like 'too tense', which gives you one
疼 on its own means ache or sore. 头疼 is the everyday word for a literal headache, but also means a real headache figuratively, just like in English.
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'.
疼 — sickness radical 疒 + winter 冬 (phonetic)
疼 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The outer 疒 is the 'sickness' radical, signaling illness or bodily discomfort, while 冬 (dōng) inside hints at the sound, which shifted to téng. It originally meant a dull, aching pain and still means 'to ache' or 'to hurt' today.
tóu téng · HSK 3
headache
🤕 头 = head + 疼 = ache/pain
Literal compound: 头 (tóu, head) + 疼 (téng, ache/sore). 疼 is the everyday word for physical pain, so 头疼 is the direct head+pain combo, also used figuratively for something annoying.
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'.
疼 — sickness radical 疒 + winter 冬 (phonetic)
疼 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The outer 疒 is the 'sickness' radical, signaling illness or bodily discomfort, while 冬 (dōng) inside hints at the sound, which shifted to téng. It originally meant a dull, aching pain and still means 'to ache' or 'to hurt' today.