黑话 (hēi huà) — thieves' cant; argot used by criminals or underground groups; jargon; specialized language meant to exclude outsiders

Definition

Specialized 'in-group' language — jargon or cant used to keep outsiders from understanding. The focus is on its secretive, exclusive nature, not just technical vocabulary.

noun
thieves' cantargot used by criminals or underground groupsjargonspecialized language meant to exclude outsiders

Examples

  • 黑话。
    Jǐng chá tīng bù dǒng tā men de hēi huà.
    The police couldn't understand their secret language.
  • 黑话。
    Zhè xiē jiāng hú hēi huà zhǐ yǒu lǎo shǒu cái míng bai.
    Only the veterans understand this underworld cant.
  • 黑话。
    Měi gè háng yè dōu yǒu zì jǐ de hēi huà.
    Every industry has its own jargon.

Origin

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.

黑hēisecret
话huàspeech

The secret 黑话 is hidden speech, so the name points to its concealed use.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

Open 黑 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →

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