About
The character 碴 is a phonosemantic compound consisting of the stone radical 石 on the left and the phonetic component 查 on the right. The stone radical places the character in the semantic field of rocks and hard materials. Its primary meaning is broken fragments of pottery, glass, or ice, along with the sharp, uneven edges that occur when something fractures. By extension, it describes stubble or short, bristly hair, likening these textures to the rough, broken edges of a hard object.
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