街頭
がいとう · gaitou · JLPT N1 · noun
street
🛣️ 街 (street, town) + 頭 (head, top) = the head of the street, out on the street
街 means street or town, and 頭 means head or top. Together they name the open street where you walk outdoors. Gaitou sounds like guy toe, a guy stubbing his toe on the pavement.
街 — 行 (go) + 圭 (jade tablets, phonetic)
街 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The outer 行 originally depicted a crossroads and gives the meaning 'road' or 'thoroughfare'. The inner 圭 supplies the sound. Together they denote a street or public way through a town.