通风
tōng fēng · HSK 7
to ventilate
🌬️🪟 通 (pass through) + 风 (wind) = wind passes through = ventilation
通 means to pass through or connect; 风 is wind. Together: letting wind pass through a space, hence airy or to ventilate. The same pass-through sense extends to letting information pass out, i.e. to disclose.
通 — 辵 (辶) walk + 甬 yǒng (phonetic)
通 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 辶 (chuò) component means 'walk' or 'movement', giving the meaning of going through or passing. 甬 (yǒng), originally depicting a hanging bell or a path, supplies the sound. Together they convey 'to pass through, communicate, connect'.
风 — 几 (table) + 虫 (insect)
Originally written 鳳 (phoenix), later simplified. The traditional form 風 contains 虫 (insect), reflecting an old belief that wind brought insects or that creatures stirred with the wind. The modern simplified 风 keeps 几 as an outer frame around 㐅.