About
The character 荅 (dá) is composed of the grass radical 艹 (cǎo) atop the phonetic component 合 (hé), which also conveys the sense of joining. It originally denoted a specific plant, such as a type of bean or coarse grass used in agriculture. Over time, it was commonly borrowed as a phonetic loan for 答 (dá), meaning "to reply", so its botanical sense is often overshadowed by this verbal usage in classical texts, illustrating how phonetic borrowing can supplant a character's original meaning.
Etymology Hide
