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The character 蓣, simplified from the traditional form 蕷, is employed almost solely in the compound 薯蓣 to refer to the Chinese yam. The traditional character 蕷 is structured with the grass radical 艹 atop the phonetic component 預, while the simplified form 蓣 replaces 預 with the component 予. Its meaning has consistently been tied to this plant, without significant semantic expansion or alteration over time.