试题
shì tí · HSK 3
exam question
📝 试 = test + 题 = topic/question; literally test-question
试 (shì) means to test or try; 题 (tí) means topic or question. Together they form the compound for an exam question or test problem. Same 题 appears in 问题 (problem) and 话题 (topic).
试 — speech radical 讠 (言) + 式 shì
试 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The speech radical 讠 (言, 'words/speech') gives the meaning, since testing originally involved questioning or verbal trial. The right side 式 ('pattern, model') supplies the sound shì. Together they suggest 'to try out by a set method,' yielding senses like test, try, attempt.
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.'