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The character "羯" is structured with the semantic component "羊" for sheep and the phonetic component "曷" indicating its pronunciation, and it originally referred to a castrated male sheep. This zoological sense continues in limited compound terms. During the Han and Jin dynasties, the character was adopted through phonetic borrowing to denote the Jie people, an ethnic group linked to the Xiongnu confederation, which led to its prominent use as an ethnonym in historical records of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. While the original meaning persists in specific contexts, the character's association with the Jie people became its primary historical application.
Etymology Hide
