Origin

The character 芋 combines the grass radical at the top, which classifies this as a plant, with the component 于 below that serves as a sound hint for the pronunciation. The grass radical indicates we're talking about something that grows from the earth, while the bottom component guides you toward the "ウ" sound. Together, the character visually suggests a plant with an underground tuber or bulb, which is exactly what taro and yams are—root vegetables that grow beneath leafy plants.

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