苦頭

Chinese

		bitter; intensely; miserable bitter; intensely; miserable; painful	head; (noun suffix)
trad. (苦頭)		苦	頭
simp. (苦头)		苦	头

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kǔtóu

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨˇ ㄊㄡˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fu² tau⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): khó͘-thâu / khó͘-thiô
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): ku³ tou

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kǔtóu → kǔtou (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨˇ ㄊㄡˊ → ㄎㄨˇ ˙ㄊㄡ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kǔto̊u
    • Wade–Giles: kʻu³-tʻou⁵
    • Yale: kǔ-tou
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuu.tour
    • Palladius: кутоу (kutou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰoʊ̯³⁵/ → /kʰu²¹⁴ tʰoʊ̯⁴/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kǔtóur → kǔtour (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨˇ ㄊㄡˊㄦ → ㄎㄨˇ ˙ㄊㄡㄦ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kǔto̊ur
    • Wade–Giles: kʻu³-tʻou⁵-ʼrh
    • Yale: kǔ-tour
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuu.tourl
    • Palladius: кутоур (kutour)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰɤʊ̯ɻʷ³⁵/ → /kʰu²¹⁴ tʰɤʊ̯ɻʷ⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fu² tau⁴
    • Yale: fú tàuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fu² tau⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: fu² teo⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fuː³⁵ tʰɐu̯²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khó͘-thâu
    • Tâi-lô: khóo-thâu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qoftaau
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kʰɔ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ tʰau¹³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰɔ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ tʰau²⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kʰɔ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ tʰau²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khó͘-thiô
    • Tâi-lô: khóo-thiô
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qoftiooi
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰɔ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ tʰio²⁴/

Note:

• khó͘-thiô - literary;
• khó͘-thâu - vernacular.

• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: ku³ tou
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu⁴¹ tʰəu̯³/

Noun

苦頭

1. (colloquial) slight bitter taste
2. (informal) suffering; setback; misery

Derived terms

• 吃苦頭／吃苦头 (chī kǔtou)

 

See also

• 甜頭／甜头 (tiántou)