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The character "馇", with its traditional form "餷", is structured with the food radical "饣" in its simplified version or "食" in the traditional form, combined with the phonetic component "查", indicating a pronunciation link. This construction aligns with the semantic-phonetic principle common in Chinese character formation, where the radical conveys the domain of food preparation and the component suggests sound. The character specifically denotes the action of cooking by boiling until a thick or porridge-like consistency is achieved, as in the preparation of congee. Its meaning has consistently been applied in culinary contexts, without expansion into other semantic areas.