About
垩 is a phonosemantic compound for white earth or chalk. The semantic radical 土 (earth) at the bottom points to soil or mineral substances, while 亚 at the top is a simplified phonetic (from 亞) that gives the sound. The traditional form is 堊. Originally, it referred to white clay or chalk used in whitewashing and construction, and it now appears in the geological term 白垩纪, the Cretaceous period (literally "chalk era").
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