Pedroski Posted July 21, 2015 at 02:05 AM Report Posted July 21, 2015 at 02:05 AM Someone was asking about '大部头‘ or '大部头书‘ iciba gives 'chunky novel' or 'large book' for '大部头‘, 百度 has '指篇幅大的书。The people I asked first said 'must be a mistake, never heard of '大部头‘。 What I'd like to know is how '大部头‘ comes to mean 'thick' or 'large'。‘mostly head'?? [⋯], 一本皮封面的大部头书,摊开了靠在忱头上。 ‘忱头‘ is that something? Or a typo for '枕头‘? Quote
New Members ouyangnufang Posted July 21, 2015 at 03:55 AM New Members Report Posted July 21, 2015 at 03:55 AM 忱头 is a typo for 枕头。 iciba and baidu give the correct meaning of 大部头 。 Quote
New Members carrie.yu Posted July 21, 2015 at 04:29 AM New Members Report Posted July 21, 2015 at 04:29 AM 大部头 means this kind of book is very thick, large. 忱头 is no meaning,a typo for 枕头. Quote
yhs31217 Posted July 21, 2015 at 06:43 AM Report Posted July 21, 2015 at 06:43 AM 百度 is right but some people may think 大部头 means more than 篇幅大的书 my feeling is 大部头的书 are always classic not many people use this now and only in a small part of china (i think in 华北地区, but i m not sure) for a good and thick book in chinese, people would like to use 一部书 (一部书may includes 很多本书, for example, Encyclopedia Britannica) rather than 一本书 i guess this might be why some created 大部 i really dont know why there is a 头 i dont think it means head sorry maybe just like 豆腐脑 that 脑 doesnt mean brain ant i have no idea what it means for the 忱 i believe it s a typo for 枕头 Quote
alvinfromchina Posted July 21, 2015 at 06:46 AM Report Posted July 21, 2015 at 06:46 AM 1. “大部头”means a book with a lot of pages. In most cases, we use this phrase to describe a dictionary. 2. It's not often used in daily life. Indeed, it is often used in written works or discussions about literature etc. 3. Yes, it's a typo for 枕头。 Quote
dwq Posted July 21, 2015 at 08:14 AM Report Posted July 21, 2015 at 08:14 AM 漢典 says this about 頭. Quote 13. (tou)名詞尾碼(❶接於名詞詞根,如“木~”。❷接於動詞詞根,如“念~”。❸接於形容詞詞根,如“甜~兒”)。 It is a suffix for nouns. The meaning is usually related to the root, although the relation might not be immediately obvious. 念 (to think) and 念頭 (a thought/an idea) 甜 (sweet) and 甜頭 (給某人甜頭: do somebody a favor/give somebody a bribe) 看 (watch) and 看頭 (watch-worthiness: 有看頭 worth watching) And 部 is a measure word for "works of literature, films, machines etc": 一部小説 My guess is 部頭 came from that and came to mean the size of a book. 1 Quote
Pedroski Posted July 22, 2015 at 04:09 AM Author Report Posted July 22, 2015 at 04:09 AM Thanks, very interesting, how 头 is used. Quote
gaogaozhan Posted July 23, 2015 at 12:47 PM Report Posted July 23, 2015 at 12:47 PM 大部头 is rather rare. 章回 is more common. Yes, 部 is a collection of novels. Have you read this classic《天龙八部》? It's the same 部 Quote
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