饉

Means “to be famished, to suffer hunger.”

Specifically used for famine, scarcity of food, crop failure.

Closely related in meaning to 飢 (gi, hunger), but more strongly emphasizes famine due to natural disaster or failed harvest.

A phono-semantic compound with associative nuance:

食 (“food, to eat”) - provides the semantic element;

堇 (geun, “clay, a little, violet”) - provides the phonetic element.

However, historically 堇 itself (in Oracle Bone / Bronze inscriptions) could mean drought, scarcity, so 饉 carries both phonetic and semantic reinforcement — partly phonetic, partly associative.

Common compounds:

饑饉 (기근) - famine, dearth;

饉年 (근년) - a year of famine;

荒饉 (황근) - severe famine.

In classical texts, 饉 is often paired with 荒 (“wasteland, barren”) → 荒饉, a formulaic phrase meaning “famine caused by drought and poor harvest.”

Closely connected to 飢/饑, but distinguished in nuance:

飢 - hunger (personal, immediate);

饑 - famine (general, due to poor harvest);

饉 - famine (systemic, often tied to natural disasters).