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讣, the simplified form of the traditional character 訃, is a phonosemantic compound: the speech radical 讠 (from 言) provides the meaning, and 卜 provides the sound. It functions as a noun meaning "obituary" and as a verb meaning "to formally announce a death to relatives and friends". The 讠 component places it in the semantic field of communication and formal announcements, while 卜 supplies the pronunciation "fù" (historically also "bù"). It most often appears in the compound 讣告 (fùgào), a formal written obituary notice published or distributed to family. This pairing of a meaning element and a simple phonetic marker reflects the social need to communicate mortality through writing or speech.
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