About
硇 (náo) is a phono-semantic compound naming a mineral, most familiar in the term 硇砂 (náoshā), sal ammoniac or ammonium chloride. It combines the semantic radical 石 (shí, 'stone, mineral') with the phonetic component 匘 (náo). That right-hand element is built from 匸 enclosing 囟 (xìn), originally associated with the head or brain, but here it functions purely to mark the sound. In usage, 硇 has remained tightly bound to chemical and mineralogical vocabulary, acting as an unambiguous label for this ammonium-based crystalline salt.
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