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蛇头 (shé tóu) — human smuggler, snakehead (slang); head of a snake

Definition

蛇头 literally means 'snake's head', but in news and crime reporting it is the slang term for a human-smuggling organizer who guides migrants across borders.

noun
human smugglersnakehead (slang)head of a snake
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 蛇头。
    Jǐng fāng zhuā dào le yí gè shé tóu.
    The police caught a snakehead (human smuggler).
  • 蛇头。
    Zhè tiáo shé de shé tóu shì sān jiǎo xíng de.
    This snake's head is triangular.
  • 蛇头。
    Zhè zhǒng shé de shé tóu shì lǜ sè de.
    This kind of snake has a green head.

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.

蛇shésnake
头tóuhead

蛇 means snake and 头 means head; the image of a snake's head is used for a human smuggler.

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
虫虫chóng
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.

Open 蛇 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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