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猬 is a phono-semantic compound with the left radical 犭 meaning 'animal' and the right component 胃 providing the pronunciation wèi. The traditional form 蝟 used the insect and reptile radical 虫, reflecting an older classification that grouped hedgehogs with creeping creatures. The shift to the animal radical aligns it with modern mammalian taxonomy. Although 胃 means 'stomach', it functions here purely as a phonetic marker without anatomical implication.
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