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挞 is a phono-semantic compound meaning to flog or whip with a cane or similar flexible instrument. The hand radical 扌 indicates a manual action, while 达 gives the sound. It is the simplified form of 撻, which uses the traditional phonetic 達. Historically, the character referred to judicial corporal punishment administered by authorities, and it still appears in literary descriptions of severe beatings or forceful strikes.
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