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墁 is a phono-semantic compound: the semantic component 土 provides the meaning 'earth' or 'soil', while the phonetic 曼 indicates the pronunciation. Its original meaning refers to the manual technique of plastering, troweling, or paving surfaces with mud, earth, or brick, used to smooth walls and floors in traditional masonry. The radical 土 points to the raw materials, mud and clay, that craftsmen employed to finish architectural surfaces.
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