About
The character 衖 is a historical variant meaning an alleyway or narrow lane between buildings. Structurally, it's a phono-semantic compound: the semantic radical 行 (walking, roads) splits to enclose the phonetic component 弄, which hints at the narrow space. This character has been largely superseded by the more common 巷 and 弄 in modern usage, surviving mainly in classical texts and specialized historical contexts. The character's physical layout, a street radical enclosing another element, visually reinforces its meaning of a pathway.
Etymology Hide
