上る
のぼる · noboru · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to go up
🧗⛰️ 上 = up/above + verb ending る, so the verb is to go up
上 is drawn as a short stroke sitting above a base line, marking what is up. The ending る makes it a verb: のぼる, to climb. Sound hook: noboru sounds like no bore, because a climb up is never boring.
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.