About
The character 斛 is a phono-semantic compound that pairs the semantic radical 斗, a pictograph of a dipper originally representing a unit of dry measure, on the right with the phonetic component 角, meaning horn, on the left. The phonetic 角 contributes a modified pronunciation hú, derived from its own reading jiǎo. Owing to the radical, 斛 belongs to the category of measuring instruments and was used for dry agricultural commodities. Historically, the character denoted both a particular vessel for measuring grain and an official unit of volume in imperial Chinese metrology. Initially, its capacity was ten dou, but later standards redefined it as five dou.
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