漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People
頭: head, counter for large animals
JLPT N316 strokesGrade 2Your ink: 白 Not met
頁 carries the meaning · 豆 gives the sound
16 strokes
Small seal · Qin Today
Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Five readings, and the words that use each
トウtou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 没頭するぼっとうするimmerse oneself
- 頭部とうぶhead
- 店頭てんとうshop front
ズzu · on'yomi
- 頭痛ずつうheadache
- 頭脳ずのうbrains
トto · on'yomi
- 音頭おんどmarching songs
あたまatama · kun'yomi · on its own
- 頭あたまhead
-がしら-gashira · kun'yomi
- 目頭めがしらthe corner of the eye
- 波頭なみがしらwhitecaps
Also read かしら, かぶり, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)豆 (sound) + 頁 head (meaning)
Source: Wiktionary, 頭 (rev. 93592080), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Bean/vessel (豆) + head (頁). Compares the human "head" to a sturdy, well-filled container (like a bean vessel) that holds all your thoughts and brains.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
頭 takes the 豆 family's reading, トウ (tou).
In ChineseSimplified 头 · traditional, as in Japanese · tóu
Japan keeps the traditional form 頭; mainland China simplifies it to 头.
- Simplified
- 头 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 頭 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin tóu most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.
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