Definition
字头 is a technical term with three distinct uses in Chinese linguistics and lexicography. In a dictionary, it refers to the head character that begins an entry (like the bolded character you look up). In phonology, it means the initial consonant of a syllable (声母). In character structure, it refers to the top component of a Chinese character (e.g., ⺮ is the 字头 of 笔). Context determines which sense is intended.
n.
(dictionary) head characterentry headword(linguistics) initial consonant of a syllable(character structure) top component of a character
Examples
- 字头，。Zhè běn cídiǎn de zì tóu yòng hēitǐzì yìnshuā, fāngbiàn cházhǎo.The head characters in this dictionary are printed in bold for easy lookup.
- ，字头，“b”“”字头。Zài Hànyǔ pīnyīn zhōng, zì tóu zhǐ shēngmǔ bùfen, bǐrú “b” shì “bà” de zì tóu.In Hanyu Pinyin, 字头 refers to the initial consonant, for example 'b' is the initial of 'bà'.
- 字头“⺮”，“”。Zhège Hànzì de zì tóu shì “zhú”, xiàmiàn cái shì “máo”.The top component of this character is '⺮', and below it is '毛'.
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