The word "蝮蛇" is formed by combining two characters: "蝮" uses the semantic radical "虫" for reptiles and the phonetic component "复" for pronunciation, denoting a venomous snake type; "蛇" similarly uses "虫" for meaning and "它" for sound, meaning snake. Together, they create a compound where both characters refer to snakes, with "蝮" specifying the category.