About
The character 鼩 is a phono-semantic compound: the semantic radical 鼠 on the left indicates a rodent or similar small mammal, while the phonetic component 句 on the right provides the sound. It denotes the shrew, a mouse-like insectivore, and exemplifies how Chinese characters form specific animal names by combining a broad category signifier with a distinct phonetic marker, yielding specialized zoological vocabulary for both classical texts and modern biology.
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