About
菰 is a phono-semantic compound combining the semantic radical 艹 (cǎo, "grass") with the phonetic element 孤 (gū, "solitary"). It refers to Manchurian wild rice (Zizania latifolia), an aquatic plant historically cultivated as a staple cereal in ancient China. When infected by a smut fungus, the plant's lower stems swell into an edible vegetable called water bamboo (茭白, jiāobái). The character thus encompasses both the historical grain and its widely consumed vegetable derivative in agricultural and culinary contexts.
Etymology Hide
