About
溴 (xiù) was coined as a phono-semantic compound for the element bromine, following the convention for non-metallic liquid elements. The radical 氵 (shuǐ) marks it as a liquid (bromine is liquid at room temperature), while 臭 (chòu), meaning 'noxious odor', provides the pronunciation and also suggests the element's pungent, bleach-like smell. This exemplifies how modern scientific terms are systematically integrated into the traditional framework of Chinese characters.
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