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荤 (traditional 葷) is a phonosemantic compound. It originally referred to strong-smelling vegetables like garlic, onions, and leeks, not meat. The grass radical 艹 at the top signals this early botanical meaning, identifying the character as a pungent herb that Buddhist monks were forbidden to eat. The lower part is the phonetic component 军 (simplified) or 軍 (traditional), which supplies the sound but has no semantic function. As religious dietary rules evolved, the meaning expanded to encompass all prohibited foods, and today 荤 primarily means meat and other non-vegetarian dishes.
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