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蚬 (traditional: 蜆) is a phono-semantic compound: the left-side radical 虫 (chóng) broadly classifies creatures like insects, worms, reptiles, and shelled aquatic invertebrates, indicating the word's general semantic category. The right-side component 见 (jiàn; traditional 見) is a phonetic that signals the pronunciation. The character defines small bivalve mollusks, particularly freshwater clams of the genus Corbicula, which are found in rivers, lakes, and muddy estuaries. It is encountered in zoological texts, aquaculture, and culinary writing, where it names dishes that use these shellfish. Since its creation, 蚬 has carried only this concrete biological meaning, never developing figurative or abstract senses.
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