cured meat, 12th lunar month
English · cured meat, 12th lunar month
cured or salted meat/fish prepared in winter
- 腊肉làròucured meat, Chinese bacon
- 腊月làyuèthe 12th lunar month
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 12 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (肉) is compressed and slightly shorter, while the right phonetic component (昔) stretches wider and taller to maintain structural equilibrium.
Simplification Logic: The traditional form 臘 uses (jiù) on the right, which was simplified to 昔 in the modern simplified character 腊.
Radical 月 · Meat Radical (when on the left, written as ⺼) (meat, flesh, body parts)
Semantic Clue (形旁): ⺼ (indicates that this refers to meat or flesh)
Phonetic Clue (声旁): 昔 (original sound: xī / là)
The meat radical (⺼) on the left pairs with 'formerly/past' (昔) on the right, denoting meat preserved from the past winter season.
- ⺼ meat semantic clue
- 昔 phonetic and conceptual clue for 'past/winter months'
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
8· Phonetic Root: 巤 (liè)Origin: Originally referred to the year-end sacrificial offering made to the gods in ancient times during the 12th lunar month, a time when meat was also cured and dried in the cold winter air.
Semantic Evolution: Over time, the sacrificial ritual meaning became secondary, while the association with cold-weather cured meats and the 12th lunar month took precedence in everyday language.
- The 12th lunar month is traditionally called 腊月 because ancient sacrifices were held during this period.
In the past (昔), people hung strips of meat (⺼) outside in the freezing winter air of the 12th lunar month to cure them into delicious bacon.
làMistaking the right-hand component 昔 for another phonetic or confusing 腊 with similar-looking characters like 借 and 错.
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