根基
gēn jī · HSK 7
foundation
🌳 根 root + 基 base = foundation; literally root-base of a structure
根 means root (tree radical 木 + 艮); 基 means base or groundwork (土 earth radical below 其). Together: the root-and-base on which something stands — the foundation of a building, theory, or family.
根 — tree radical 木 + 艮 (phonetic)
根 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 木 ('tree') gives the meaning, since the character originally referred to the roots of a tree. The right side 艮 supplies the sound. From 'tree root' it extended to mean 'root, base, foundation' in general.