鹵

Core meaning refers to salt in its raw, geological, or environmental state:

• Natural deposits: Brine, salt-crusts, rock salt, and mineral deposits.
• Saline/Alkali Soil: Land with high salt content, often implying sterility or barrenness.
• The source: The environmental origin of salt rather than a processed product.

Primarily functions as a noun or a noun-modifier. Occasional appearances in verbal positions (e.g., "becoming saline" or "treating with salt") are rare and require contextual verification.

• 鹵 (lǔ) vs. 鹽 (yán): 鹵 generally denotes chemical/environmental properties and raw deposits, whereas 鹽 typically refers to refined salt as a commodity, seasoning, or trade good.
• Relationship to 鹼 (jiǎn): There is significant overlap with "alkali"; in certain contexts, this may be rendered as "alkalinity" or "bitter earth."

The glyph is graphically stable as its own radical (197). The simplified form (卤) is modern.

Choice of rendering depends on whether the text describes a substance or a landscape:

• Substance: “Brine,” “natural salt,” “mineral salt.”
• Environment: “Saline,” “brackish,” “alkali,” or “barren/sterile” (specifically regarding soil).