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毒贩 (dú fàn) — drug dealer, drug trafficker

Definition

noun
drug dealerdrug trafficker
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 毒贩。
    Jǐng chá zhuā zhù le nà ge dú fàn.
    The police caught that drug dealer.
  • 毒贩。
    Zhèng fǔ yán lì dǎ jī dú fàn huó dòng.
    The government cracks down on drug trafficking activities.
  • 毒贩。
    Hěn duō dú fàn dōu zài biān jìng bèi zhuā huò.
    Many drug traffickers are caught at the border.

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.

毒dúdrug
贩fàndealer

毒 means drug or poison, and 贩 means dealer; together they name a drug dealer.

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.

Open 毒 →

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 販; 贩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
反
反fǎn販fàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 販 combines 貝, a cowry shell, with 反 as a sound part; the simplified 贩 is a shorthand and its right side is not a historical component.

Open 贩 →
Appears in
Crime & Police5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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