路口
lù koǔ · HSK 1
intersection
🛣️ 路 (road) + 口 (mouth/opening) = road's opening = intersection
口 often means 'opening' or 'entrance' in compounds (出口 exit, 入口 entrance). So 路口 is literally the 'mouth of the road' — where roads open into each other.
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.
口 — pictograph of an open mouth
口 is one of the oldest pictographs in Chinese, originally drawn as a simple outline of an open mouth. Its core meaning 'mouth' extended naturally to 'opening' or 'entrance', as in 入口 (entrance). It also serves as a common radical in characters related to speech, eating, or apertures.