About
The simplified character 殓 is the modern form of the traditional 殮, a phono-semantic compound. Its left component, the radical 歹, signifies death or remains, while the right component 佥 provides the sound. This character specifically refers to the ritual process of washing, dressing, and placing a corpse into a coffin in preparation for burial. During simplification, the complex phonetic element 僉 was replaced with the condensed form 佥, but the death radical was retained to preserve its clear semantic category. Consequently, its usage is highly specialized, confined to mortuary practices and funeral rites concerning the formal handling of the deceased prior to interment.