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A phono-semantic compound, 轭 (traditional 軛) depicts the wooden yoke for harnessing draft animals to a cart or plow. The left side, 车 or 車, gives the semantic category of vehicles; the right side 厄 is phonetic. While originally denoting a piece of farming and transport equipment, the character's meaning later broadened to encompass metaphorical burdens, restraints, or oppressive forces that bind or control like a physical yoke.
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