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鹨 is the simplified form of the traditional 鷚, a phono-semantic compound used in avian taxonomy. The semantic component is the bird radical, appearing as 鸟 on the right in the simplified character and as 鳥 at the bottom in the traditional, indicating a bird. The phonetic component 翏, placed left or top depending on the structure, supplies the pronunciation. The character refers to the pipit, a small passerine bird, and its meaning has always been confined to ornithological classification. The simplification merely reduced the strokes of the bird radical without altering the phonetic reliance on 翏 or the specific biological meaning.
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