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诒, written traditionally as 詒, is a phono-semantic compound: the speech radical 讠 points to its semantic field, while 台 indicates its pronunciation. In classical texts, the character carries two entirely different meanings determined by its reading. One reading yields the verb sense "to bequeath or hand down", instructions, property, or traditions, to succeeding generations; the other reading means "to deceive or mislead" through fabricated or manipulative speech.
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