蛇行 (shé xíng) — to crawl or move in a sinuous, snake-like manner

Definition

蛇行 (shéxíng) is a formal, written verb for moving in a winding, snake-like path — like soldiers weaving through grass or a stream snaking through a valley. In everyday speech, say 蜿蜒前进 or 像蛇一样爬.

verb
to crawl or move in a sinuoussnake-like manner
Easily confused

Examples

  • 蛇行。
    Jūn rén zài cǎo cóng zhōng shé xíng qián jìn.
    The soldiers crawled forward through the grass in a serpentine manner.
  • 蛇行。
    Zhè tiáo xiǎo xī zài shān gǔ jiān wān yán shé xíng.
    This stream winds and moves like a snake through the valley.
  • 蛇行。
    Yùn dòng yuán yǐ shé xíng de fāng shì tōng guò zhàng ài.
    The athlete moved through the obstacles in a serpentine way.

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
行xíngmove

蛇 (snake) and 行 (move) combine to describe winding, snake-like motion.

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 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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