倒塌
dǎo tā · HSK 7
to collapse
🏚️ dǎo = fall down + tā sounds like 'ta-da!' but everything crashes instead
The first character 倒 means to fall or topple. The second 塌 means to cave in or sink, with the earth radical 土 showing ground giving way. Together they double down on structural failure — everything comes down at once.
倒 — person radical 亻 + 到 (to arrive)
倒 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the person radical 亻 gives meaning (an action done by/to a person), while 到 supplies the sound 'dào'. Originally meaning 'to fall over' (a person toppling), it extended to 'invert, upside down, pour out', as when something falls and spills.
塌 — earth 土 + 㩉 (phonetic)
塌 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The earth radical 土 carries the meaning, suggesting collapse, sinking, or caving in of ground or structures. The right side 㩉 supplies the sound, giving the modern reading tā. The character extends to figurative senses like sagging or slumping down.