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The character 镉 (gé), traditional 鎘, is a modern phono-semantic compound coined for the periodic table to denote the metallic element cadmium. Its semantic radical is 钅 (simplified) or 金 (traditional), meaning 'metal' or 'gold' and marking it as a metal. The phonetic component 鬲 (gé) originally depicted an ancient cooking vessel or tripod, but here serves purely to approximate the element's Western name. This structure exemplifies the standard method of creating Chinese characters for modern scientific discoveries.
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