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The character 眚 combines the phonetic 生 (shēng) atop the semantic 目 (eye). The 目 radical anchors the meaning to the eye, while 生 provides the sound and also suggests growth. Originally, the character referred to a film or cataract growing over the eye, clouding vision. This concrete physical ailment later broadened to signify disaster, calamity, error, or fault, marking a shift from a specific optical pathology to a general sense of defect or misfortune.
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