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The character 莛 is a phono-semantic compound: the grass/plant radical 艹 places it in the semantic field of vegetation, while the component 廷 supplies its pronunciation. Its primary meaning is the stiff stems or stalks of certain grasses and herbs, particularly after they have lost leaves or flowers. This sense has persisted without major change, designating the thin, straight stalks of plants. In classical texts, the character is also used figuratively to describe objects that are fragile or slender, extending from its botanical origin. The structure is a typical example of Chinese character formation, with a radical classifying the word and a phonetic element indicating the sound, and no significant semantic drift has occurred in its recorded history.
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