修路
xiū lù · HSK 7
to repair a road
🛠️🛣️ 修路 = 修 (repair/fix) + 路 (road) → to repair a road
修 xiū is the same fix in 修理 (to repair); 路 lù is road, as in 马路 (street). Stick them together and you get road-repair, the roadwork crew patching potholes.
修 — 亻 person + 攸 (phonetic) + 彡 hair/decoration
修 combines 攸 (a phonetic component originally showing a person being washed) with 彡, which depicts flowing hair or ornamental strokes. The 彡 element suggests grooming, polishing, or adorning, giving 修 its core meaning of cultivating, repairing, or refining oneself or things.
路 — foot 足 + each 各 (phonetic)
路 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The foot radical 足 on the left signals meaning related to walking or travel, while 各 on the right hints at the ancient pronunciation. Originally referring to a road traveled on foot, it broadened to mean 'road, path, route' in general.