骨头
gǔtóu · HSK 4
bone
🦴 骨头 = bone + head/suffix; 头 is a noun suffix here, not literal head
骨 means bone; 头 is a common noun-forming suffix (like 石头 stone, 木头 wood), not the literal head. Figuratively 骨头 also means backbone or strong character — a person with 硬骨头 has grit.
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'.