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The character 佶 consists of the human radical 亻 on the left, signaling a connection to people or human attributes, and the phonetic 吉 on the right, which gives the character its sound. In classical Chinese texts, it described a person as robust, sturdy, and with an upright, steadfast bearing; it was also applied to horses to indicate a vigorous appearance. Today, it is largely confined to proper nouns, literary language, and the idiom 佶屈聱牙, which describes writing that is awkward and hard to read aloud or understand due to its rugged construction.
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