U+55B1 "喱" CJK Unified Ideograph-# Unicode Character
U+55B1 "喱" CJK Unified Ideograph-# is a Chinese character used in modern Mandarin and Cantonese, primarily functioning as a phonetic component in transliterations, most notably in the word "カレー" (curry) where it appears as "咖喱" (gālí), with "喱" representing the "li" sound. In addition to its role in loanword transcription, it can also carry a meaning related to a small jar or pot in historical context, though this usage is less common today. The character is built from the "mouth" radical (口) on the left, indicating its association with speech or sounds, and the phonetic element "厘" on the right, which provides pronunciation cues. As part of the CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) unified ideographs block, it is encoded for use across multiple East Asian languages, though it is most frequently encountered in Chinese texts, especially in culinary or transliterated terms.