毒蛇 (dú shé) — poisonous snake; viper | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

poisonous snakeviper

Measure word · 条

毒蛇。
Zài rè dài yǔ lín lǐ yào xiǎo xīn dú shé.
Be careful of poisonous snakes in the tropical rainforest.
毒蛇，。
Tā bèi dú shé yǎo le yì kǒu, lì kè qù le yī yuàn.
He was bitten by a poisonous snake and went to the hospital immediately.
毒蛇。
Zhè zhǒng dú shé de dú yè fēi cháng zhì mìng.
The venom of this kind of poisonous snake is extremely deadly.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

毒, poison, with 蛇, snake, means a snake with venom.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

屮屮chèvegetation

Sound part声符shēngfú

毐

毐ǎi毒dú

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

毒 pairs 屮, a plant part, with 毐 as a sound part; this form was used for a poisonous plant.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

虫它蛇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

它

它tā蛇shé

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

蛇 combines 虫 with 它; 它 gives the sound and was also the original form of this character.

Appears in