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鲗 (zéi) is the simplified form of 鰂, a phono-semantic compound used to denote cuttlefish or squid, primarily in marine biology contexts. It is built from the semantic radical 鱼 (yú 'fish'), which categorizes it as a marine animal, and the phonetic component 则 (zé), the simplified equivalent of 則, which provides its pronunciation. The traditional form 鰂 follows the same structural logic, combining the full-form radical 魚 with the full-form phonetic 則. Historically, the character appeared in culinary and biological texts describing the ink-producing cephalopod, and its meaning has remained strictly confined to this specific marine animal, without ever developing secondary or unrelated senses.
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