Definitions
long-tailed marmot
Etymology
About
鼫 is formed as a phono-semantic compound. The left-side radical 鼠, which means 'rat' or 'mouse', indicates that the character belongs to the semantic category of rodents and similar small mammals. The right-side component 石, meaning 'stone' or 'rock', functions exclusively as a phonetic indicator: it provides a clue to the character's pronunciation but does not transfer its literal sense of stone to the animal. Historically, 鼫 is used to name a large rodent, such as a marmot or a type of field mouse, with the radical accurately reflecting its zoological nature.
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