About
糌 is a phono-semantic compound with the semantic radical 米 (rice/grain) on the left and the phonetic component 昝 on the right. It was created specifically to transcribe the Tibetan staple food 'zānba' (糌粑), made from roasted highland barley flour. The 米 radical indicates its agricultural and dietary nature, while 昝 approximates the Tibetan pronunciation, illustrating how Chinese adapts to incorporate foreign cultural terms by combining a relevant semantic category with a phonetic element.