上がる
あがる · agaru · JLPT N4 · verb-godan
to rise
🎈 上 = up + がる: the kanji for up, turned into a verb
上 means up or above, the same kanji as in 上 (ue). Adding がる makes the intransitive verb: something rises by itself. Its partner 上げる (ageru) is transitive: you raise something. Sound hook: prices go up and you say agh, a-ga-ru.
上 — horizontal line above a baseline
上 is an indicative character (指事): a short stroke placed above a longer reference line shows the concept of 'above' or 'up'. The earliest oracle-bone forms used two horizontal lines for this; the modern shape added a vertical stroke for clarity. The core meaning of 'upper, above, to ascend' has stayed stable for millennia.