疼

téng
adjective HSK 2 #1,177

Meanings

  1. 1 painful; sore
  2. 2 to love dearly; to dote on

Examples

HSK 1
Nǐ nǎlǐ téng?
Where does it hurt?
HSK 2
Wǒ tóu téng.
I have a headache.
HSK 2
Nǎinai hěn téng wǒ.
Grandma loves me dearly.

Tips

usage
疼 has two very different uses: physical pain (头疼, headache) and deep affection (妈妈疼孩子, a mother dotes on her child). The affection meaning implies a tender, protective love - typically from elders to younger ones.
mistakes
疼 vs 痛: both mean 'pain', but 疼 is more colloquial and also means 'to love dearly.' 痛 is stronger, more formal, and doesn't have the affection meaning.

Components

radical
疒 nè
sickness; ailment
Sickness radical wraps the top-left - a person leaning on a sickbed. It marks 疼 in the bodily-suffering family with 痛 pain, 病 illness, 疯 mad, 疲 weary. The radical sets the emotional register too: ache and tenderness are intertwined here, hence the second sense 'to dote on, to love deeply' (loving someone the way an ache claims attention).
phonetic
冬 dōng
winter
Right side is 冬 'winter', supplying the sound - dōng drifting to téng with regular d/t alternation. Same phonetic core in 终 end and 咚 boom. A wintry image fits the dull, cold ache of bodily pain - the throb of 头疼 a headache, the chill of 牙疼 a toothache, the long ache of caring for someone you 疼.

Stroke Order

疼 téng