Origin

This character combines the mountain radical on the left, which tells you it's about a geographical feature, with the sound component on the right that hints at the pronunciation. The right side, which sounds like "kyou" or "kou," doesn't carry meaning by itself but helps indicate how the whole character should be pronounced. Together, mountain plus this sound hint creates a character meaning a narrow passage through mountains—a gorge or ravine where the terrain pinches inward, just as the sound component suggests a tight or narrow quality through its original meaning.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).