About
The character "蕨" is a phono-semantic compound formed by the grass radical (艹) to indicate its plant category and the component "厥" which primarily supplies phonetic value. Its application to refer to bracken ferns is documented in early texts such as the "Classic of Poetry", and its meaning has consistently denoted this type of fern without broadening or shifting to other concepts. The structure of the character has remained unchanged, with no distinct traditional or simplified variant, and the phonetic element "厥" serves to approximate pronunciation while the radical classifies it botanically.
Etymology Hide
