题目
tímù · HSK 3
exam questions
📝 题 = topic/question + 目 = eye/item; together: the items on the exam
题 means topic or question (often in tests); 目 originally means eye but extends to item or entry (as in 目录, table of contents). Combined, 题目 is the listed questions or the heading/theme of a text.
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.'