Definitions
old variant of 造[zào]
Etymology
About
艁 is classified as a phono-semantic compound character, combining the semantic radical 舟 on the left (meaning 'boat' or 'ship') with the phonetic component 告 on the right (providing the pronunciation 'zào'). It functions as a historically restricted variant of the common character 造, which broadly means 'to build, construct, or invent'. However, because of the boat radical, 艁 was used specifically for the action of shipbuilding and the construction of naval vessels. Although 告 ordinarily carries the meaning 'to tell, inform, or announce', within 艁 its role is purely phonetic; the nautical radical alone conveys the sense of construction.
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