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髭 is a phono-semantic compound: the upper component 髟 serves as the semantic radical, meaning "hair" or "long flowing locks" and placing the character in the category of human body hair, while the lower component 此 indicates the pronunciation. It specifically denotes the mustache, the facial hair growing directly above the upper lip, distinguishing it from other Chinese characters that name different types of facial hair, such as the beard on the chin or whiskers on the cheeks.
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