About
犋 is a phono-semantic compound functioning as a classifier for draft animals, especially oxen yoked together for plowing. It combines the ox radical 牜, marking the bovine domain, with the phonetic 具 (jù), which supplies the sound and connotes equipment. Originally, the character named the team of animals itself, a common unit in traditional farming, before shifting to a counting word for such teams. Today it is restricted mostly to agricultural terminology involving animal labor.
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