About
The character 茚 is a modern phonosemantic compound consisting of the grass radical 艹 and the phonetic component 印, with the latter indicating its pronunciation. It was specifically created to denote the organic chemical compound indene, a hydrocarbon derived from coal tar, and its radical loosely categorizes it among organic substances. Since its coinage for scientific terminology, the character's meaning has been consistently tied to this chemical referent without significant alteration.