About
Originally meaning the top of the head, 颠 is a phono-semantic compound. Its right component, the radical 页, indicates the semantic category of head or face, while the left component 真 provides the phonetic element. The traditional form, 顛, uses the unsimplified radical 頁 but maintains the same structure. Over time, the core meaning expanded from the anatomical crown of the head to denote the summit or peak of mountains and other objects. It later developed verbal senses meaning to fall, topple, or be inverted. This shift from a concrete noun to a verb describing tumbling or reversal demonstrates a functional transition, though the character still appears in compounds referring to both literal heights and metaphorical states of instability.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
车子在颠簸的路上行驶。
他把杯子放颠倒了。
这个故事颠覆了我的想法。
船在风浪中颠簸得很厉害。
新证据可能颠覆整个案件。
经过多年的颠簸，他的事业终于稳定下来。
地震导致地面剧烈颠簸。
他的理论颠覆了传统的物理学观念。